OX 


TTORNEY 


ANNA    T. 
SADLIBR 


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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


5 


PHILEAS  FOX,  ATTORNEY 


PHILEAS    FOX, 
ATTORNEY 


BY    ANNA     T.    SADLIER 


THE    AVE    MARIA 

NOTRE    DAME,    INDIANA 

U.    S.    A. 


COPYRIGHT,    1909, 

BY  D.  E.  HUDSON,  C.  S.  C 


I. 

IT  was  in  the  year  of  grace  18 — ,  when  the 
nineteenth  century  was  well  on  the  way 
to  its  close,  that  a  new  sign  was  placed 
upon  a  recently-varnished  door  of  an  office 
not  many  paces  from  Wall  Street.  And  to 
the  elevator  boy,  and  the  few  others  who  gave 
it  even  cursory  attention,  as  they  rushed  in 
and  out  of  the  busy  hives  that  constituted 
the  score  or  more  of  offices  in  that  building, 
it  read:  "Phileas  Fox,  Attorney  and  Counsellor 
at  Law." 

Within  waited  at  a  desk,  which  was  saved 
from  being  too  obviously  new  only  by  the  fact 
that  it  had  been  purchased  at  second-hand, 
sat  the  very  gentleman  whose  visiting  card 
bore  a  similar  appellation.  The  room  which 
had  thus  been  consecrated  to  the  law  was 
small,  and  it  contained,  besides  the  desk,  an 
office  chair  occupied  by  the  barrister  himself, 
and  two  or  three  others,  still  vacant,  upon 
which  it  was  hoped  that  future  clients  would 
sit.  There  were  also  a  certain  number  of 
pigeonholes  that  argued  methodical  arrange- 
ment of  documents,  which  were  merely  pro- 


15237C7 


8  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

spective.  Other  shelves  were  occupied  by  a 
goodly  number  of  ponderous  tomes,  that  had 
been  purchased  on  the  instalment  plan,  to 
give  an  air  of  solidity  to  the  premises.  There 
was  a  broad  window,  provided  for  the  warm 
weather  with  a  green  shade,  now  pulled  up 
high,  giving  a  view  out  over  the  roofs  and 
chimney-pots,  down  into  the  crowded  thor- 
oughfares, and  vouchsafing  in  the  dim  distance 
a  glimpse  of  the  Bay  of  Manhattan. 

Mr.  Fox  arose  from  the  office  chair  from 
time  to  time,  on  various  pretexts,  or  no  pretext 
at  all,  that  he  might  feed  his  self-complacency 
by  reading  and  rereading  that  very  conspicuous 
sign:  "Phileas  Fox,  Attorney."  It  was  his 
first  day  of  waiting  behind  the  sign;  and  he 
trusted  that  by  the  morrow  the  clients  would 
begin  to  come  in,  for  his  was  a  sanguine  nature. 
That  could  be  seen  by  a  single  glance  at  the 
bright  blue  of  the  eye,  redeeming  a  counte- 
nance sandy  in  coloring,  and,  alas!  unmis- 
takably plain,  discounted  also  by  the  red 
hair  which  he  considered  a  grievance,  especially 
when  it  was  taken  in  connection  with  his 
cognomen.  The  two  together  constituted  an 
unfortunate  suggestion. 

How  slowly  the  hours  passed  for  the  young 
practitioner,  who  had  no  other  resource,  having 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  A  ttorney  9 

examined  the  morning  papers,  than  to  make 
those  exits  and  entries  already  noted,  and  to 
steal  a  glance  from  time  to  time  at  the  office 
stationery,  which  likewise  bore  that  style  and 
title  which  gave  him  so  much  satisfaction, 
with  a  more  detailed  account  of  his  various 
and  altogether  prospective  avocations — con- 
veyancing, notarial  work,  procuring  of  licenses; 
and  so  forth! 

Even  the  deepest-seated  complacency,  which 
at  twenty-five  is  usually  in  a  flourishing 
condition,  grows  weary  at  last  of  ringing  the 
changes  upon  one's  own  name  and  titles; 
and  the  monotony  began  to  weigh  particularly 
upon  this  champion  of  more  than  one  athletic 
sport.  In  very  weariness,  Phileas  took  down 
from  a  shelf  one  of  the  folios  that  lent  it 
respectability;  and,  turning  over  the  pages 
idly,  beheld  recorded  there  a  number  of  cele- 
brated cases,  most  of  which  were  now  buried 
in  the  oblivion  of  these  volumes.  Some  of 
them  bore  quaint  old  names,  belonging  to  a 
period  when  New  York  was  a  colony;  and 
they  breathed  an  atmosphere  of  romance, 
despite  the  dry-as-dust  terms  in  which  the 
various  documents  were  expressed.  One  of 
these  cases  caught  his  eye,  and  he  noted  its 
special  peculiarity — that,  off  and  on,  it  had 


io  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

been  on  the  calendar  of  the  State  of  New 
York  for  nearly  half  a  century. 

This  was  the  case  of  Martha  Ann  Spooner 
vs.  John  Vorst.  Attracted  by  the  names  and 
the  long  legal  standing,  Phileas  plunged  deep 
into  those  mysteries,  being  informed  by  "these 
presents"  that  the  party  of  the  first  part  had, 
on  the  1 8th  day  of  the  year  of  Our  Lord  18 — , 
sold  and  conveyed  to  the  party  of  the  second 
part  the  land  and  building  and  all  its  appur- 
tenances, upon  the  southeast  corner  of  Monroe 
and  Rutgers  Streets, — a  property  concerning 
which  there  had  been  previous  litigation.  That 
simple  conveyance  likewise  gave  rise  in  the 
course  of  years  to  successive  lawsuits,  all  of 
which  were  set  down  in  the  pages  of  the 
folio  for  the  guidance  of  future  wanderers 
through  the  mazes  of  the  law. 

Phileas  Fox  found  himself  curiously  fas- 
cinated by  the  narrative,  and  resolved  to 
study  the  case  in  all  its  bearings  during  such 
intervals  of  leisure  as  he  might  have.  It 
took  hold  01  his  imagination,  of  which  com- 
modity he  possessed  a  fund  that  might  have 
made  him  a  novelist  or  a  poet,  had  it  not 
been  for  his  legal  capabilities.  Those  capa- 
bilities— the  power  to  seize  upon  facts,  to 
sift  evidence,  and  to  make  deductions — had 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  11 

been  early  pronounced  upon  by  competent 
judges,  and  had  caused  his  maternal  uncle, 
himself  in  the  law,  to  pay  for  his  professional 
education,  and  to  make  him  a  small  yearly 
allowance  pending  his  initiation  into  the  art 
of  making  money. 

Phileas  set  all  his  faculties  to  work  upon 
that  theoretical  case,  in  so  far  as  he  had  yet 
studied  it,  and  actually  persuaded  himself  that 
Martha  Ann  Spooner  was  his  client.  Instinc- 
tively, he  had  chosen  that  party  of  the  first 
part  who,  in  point  of  sex  at  least,  was  the 
weaker  of  the  two.  He  did  not  clearly  dis- 
cover, in  so  far  as  he  had  read  the  documents, 
if  Martha  Ann  Spooner  was  still  in  the  land 
of  the  living;  for,  it  seemed,  the  suit  had  been 
divided  and  subdivided  amongst  other  parties 
to  the  contest,  till  the  original  opponents 
appeared  to  have  been  crowded  out.  Phileas 
picked  up  a  sheet  of  paper  and  began  to 
scribble  thereupon  his  notes  and  impressions. 

lyUncheon  made  a  break  in  the  monotony 
of  that  long  day.  He  ensconced  himself  at  a 
table  in  one  of  those  crowded  restaurants  in 
the  down-town  districts  which  attract  a  human 
swarm  between  the  hours  of  twelve  and  two, 
and  was  waited  upon  by  an  exceedingly  alert 
and  over-officious  waiter,  who  called  out  the 


12  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

names  of  the  various  dishes  as  if  they  had 
been  the  names  of  personal  acquaintances, 
and  conveyed  them  from  the  kitchen  upon  a 
large  tray,  and  with  a  celerity  nothing  less  than 
appalling,  considering  the  crowded  condition  of 
the  apartment. 

Attorney  Fox,  returning  to  his  office,  which 
he  now  seemed  to  have  inhabited  for  a  pro- 
longed time,  also  returned  to  the  consideration 
of  the  intricate  case.  He  felt  a  positive 
longing,  as  an  epicure  might  for  some  dainty 
food,  to  have  all  the  papers  before  him — and 
a  goodly  pile  they  must  be  by  this  time, — so 
that  he  might  compare  one  with  another,  con- 
noting and  arranging  them.  Even  that  absorb- 
ing exercise  of  his  faculties,  however,  began  to 
pall  upon  him,  and  he  was  not  sorry  when 
that  first  long  day  had  worn  to  its  close.  Not 
a  single  incident  had  disturbed  its  flawless 
monotony, — not  even  so  much  as  a  knock  at 
the  door. 

Phileas  arose  at  last  from  that  office  chair, 
replaced  the  folio  upon  the  shelf,  with  a  mark 
at  the  place  of  Spooner  vs.  Vorst,  and  locked 
the  drawers  of  the  desk,  though  they  were 
practically  empty.  He  retired  into  a  corner  of 
the  room,  concealed  by  a  curtain,  where  there 
was  a  marble  basin  and  two  taps,  overhung 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  13 

by  a  small  mirror.  In  the  latter  he  took  a 
careful  survey  of  his  collar  and  tie,  with  a 
rueful  glance  at  his  red  hair  that  seemed  to 
glow  with  peculiar  vividness  in  the  light  of 
the  setting  sun.  He  hung  up  his  office  coat 
and  adjusted  his  upper  garment  of  neat  tweed; 
and,  thus  equipped  for  departure,  he  paused 
a  moment  and  looked  out  over  the  roofs. 
There  was  a  delicious  bit  of  sky  visible — blue, 
enlivened  near  the  horizon  with  a  deep  band 
of  orange,  merging  presently  into  gold;  while 
the  waters  of  the  Bay  caught  the  radiance 
and  held  it  upon  their  shining  surface. 

Phileas,  sitting  upon  the  broad  sill,  looked 
down  into  the  crowded  streets,  fairly  teeming 
at  that  hour  with  myriad  life;  for  the  offices, 
factories  and  stores  had  given  forth  their  quota 
of  humanity,  that  had  been  set  free  by  the 
ear-piercing  screech  of  the  whistles.  It  was 
a  relief,  Phileas  thought,  to  let  his  gaze  wander 
amongst  the  steeples  and  the  chimney-pots, 
idealized — as  what  is  not? — by  the  descending 
rays  of  the  western  sun. 

"O  New  York,  thou  modern  Babylon," 
cried  Phileas,  apostrophizing,  in  half  jest,  whole 
earnest,  the  mighty  metropolis  that  lay  surg- 
ing at  his  feet,  "what  a  multitude  of  saints 
and  sinners — the  latter  predominating — dost 


i4  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

thou  contain  within  thy  huge  caravansary!" 
A  breeze  came  up  from  the  Bay  while  he 
was  thus  soliloquizing  and  fanned  his  cheeks, 
and  stirred  his  ruddy  hair,  so  that  he  was 
compelled  to  put  it  in  order  again  by  a  few 
swift  strokes  of  the  brush.  His  spirits  rose 
while  he  thus  gazed  and  thus  philosophized. 
"But,"  he  went  on,  using  the  same  inflated 
language,  in  the  serio-comic  vein  which  had 
often  predominated  at  class  recitals  and  other 
festive  occasions  at  the  college,  "thou  hast 
a  thousand  possibilities  for  a  man  who  is 
young,  strong,  with  excellent  digestion  and  a 
clear  brain — also  a  conscience;  though  I  am 
not  so  intimately  convinced  that  the  latter 
is  a  very  serviceable  commodity.  But  I  shall 
chalk  it  down,  at  any  rate;  it  shall  have  to 
be  taken  into  the  calculation.  Surely,  O  great 
City,  amongst  all  those  atoms  of  humanity 
that  tread  thy  streets,  and  crowd  thy  street 
cars  to  repletion,  and  eat  in  thy  eating-houses, 
and  buy  and  sell  in  thy  market-places,  some 
shall  be  found  whose  entangled  affairs  may 
require  to  be  straightened  out  by  Phileas  Fox, 
Attorney ! ' ' 

Concluding  these  reflections  with  a  flourish, 
he  took  up  from  the  desk  a  bundle  of  papers — 
his  own  scribblings  in  the  case  of  Spooner  vs. 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  15 

Vorst,— which  had  quite  a  respectable  appear- 
ance under  his  arm.  They  were  partly  designed 
to  impress  the  elevator  boy,  who  was  talka- 
tive, as  well  as  such  passengers  for  the  ground- 
floor  as  might  be  coming  out  of  their  offices. 
Phileas  locked  his  door  with  exaggerated 
care. 

As  he  proceeded  toward  the  descending 
machine,  which  was  but  one  of  many  kept 
constantly  in  motion,  he  met  several  of  his 
fellow-tenants  in  that  huge  building,  with  a 
few  of  whom  he  had  a  nodding  acquaintance. 
He  saw  various  pairs  of  eyes  travelling  to  the 
bundle  under  his  arm,  and  he  almost  persuaded 
himself  that  he  had  secured  a  first  and  very 
lucrative  client,  being,  moreover,  associated 
with  a  certain  celebrated  case  which  had 
stirred  legal  New  York  within  the  last  half 
century.  He  strove  to  compose  his  features 
to  that  grave  preoccupation  which  he  believed 
to  be  the  proper  professional  aspect,  until 
at  the  corner  of  the  next  street  he  was  dis- 
abused of  that  idea.  For  there  he  perceived 
a  shining  light  of  the  profession  convulsing  a 
learned  confrere  with  what  was  evidently  a 
good  story.  A  stout  and  rubicund  personage, 
the  eminent  counsel,  shook  from  head  to  foot 
in  the  enjoyment  of  his  joke,  striking  his 


1 6  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

stick  vigorously  upon  the  ground  to  emphasize 
that  enjoyment. 

"To  think  of  what  that  man  has  already 
achieved,"  thought  Phileas  to  himself,  "and 
he  is  still  in  the  prime  of  life!  But  I  shall 
achieve  something  too,  with  the  blessing  of 
God.  And  I  hope  I  shall  begin  to-morrow 
morning." 

A  few  blocks  farther  on,  he  encountered  a 
former  classmate. 

"Halloa,  Fox!"  cried  that  personage,  glanc- 
ing at  the  packet  of  papers  which  Phileas 
held.  "Deep  in  the  law  already?  I  hope  it's 
a  paying  case." 

"It's  a  case  that  has  paid  out  many  thou- 
sands," replied  Phileas,  truthfully  but  ambig- 
uously. And  so  saying  he  proceeded  upon  his 
way. 


II. 

EACH  succeeding  day  at  the  office  was 
for  Phileas  Fox,  in  almost  every  par- 
ticular, a  replica  of  the  first.  The 
novelty  of  gazing  at  the  bill-heads  and  the 
sign  had  worn  off;  and  the  folios  began  to 
lose  much  of  their  interest,  without  apparent 
possibility  of  their  accumulated  learning's  being 
practically  applied.  Only  two  resources  re- 
mained by  which  the  tedium  of  those  leaden- 
winged  hours  might  be  relieved.  The  first 
was  the  case  of  Spooner  vs.  Vorst,  which  still 
exercised  its  primal  charm  upon  the  young 
lawyer's  faculties,  haunting  him  with  an  actual 
obsession;  and  the  other  was  an  expedient 
which  occurred  to  his  mind,  and  which  was 
suggested  by  the  example  of  various  notable 
personages,  in  fiction  at  least.  This  was  the 
practice  of  those  gifts  of  forensic  eloquence 
which  he  was  supposed  to  possess, — gifts  that 
had  been  stimulated  by  the  delivery  of  some- 
what florid  addresses  at  the  commencements 
and  on  other  public  occasions  at  the  University. 
He  therefore  constituted  the  vacant  office  chairs 
his  audience,  with  a  final  court  of  appeal  in 


1 8  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

the  pigeonholed  shelves,  whereon  stood  the 
folios  in  regular  order.  He  began  one  morning 
a  moving  address  in  the  case  of  Spooner  vs. 
Vorst,  which  he  carried  to  a  successful  conclu- 
sion, melting  himself  almost  to  tears,  though 
the  chairs  and  the  shelves  alike  showed  them- 
selves proof  against  emotion,  as  is  too  often 
the  case  with  judge  and  jury. 

He  had  scarcely  reached  the  peroration  when 
the  office  door  opened.  This  was  an  unpre- 
cedented event,  which  brought  the  orator's 
eloquence  to  an  untimely  close.  His  attention 
was  directed  instead  to  a  thin  and  cadaverous 
individual,  who  had  insinuated  himself  between 
the  open  door  and  the  jamb.  He  stood  there, 
with  his  hat  crammed  down  upon  his  head, 
his  alpaca  coat  shining  in  the  morning  sun- 
shine; and  while  Phileas,  reddening  to  the 
roots  of  his  hair,  strove  to  stammer  out  an 
inquiry  as  to  the  other's  business,  the  man 
came  slowly  forward  and  shut  the  door. 

"You  was  so  busy  hearing  yourself  talk," 
he  said,  "that  you  didn't  hear  my  knock, 
although  it  was  loud  enough  too." 

As  he  said  these  words  he  continued  to 
regard  the  young  barrister  with  a  scrutiny  so 
intent  that  he  seemed  to  be  taking  a  physical 
and  mental  inventory  of  him;  after  which  he 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  19 

spoke  again,  slowly,  as  if  weighing  every 
syllable : 

"I  tell  you  what,  young  feller,  you'd  better 
go  ahead  in  that  style.  You've  got  the  gift 
of  the  gab  all  right  enough;  and  it  seems  to 
me  that  I  can  make  that  gift  useful  to  myself 
and  profitable  to  you." 

Phileas  felt  his  heart  bound  within  him,  and 
his  spirits  rose  proportionately.  A  client  at 
last,  and  one  who  had  heard  him — though 
that  circumstance  had  been  embarrassing  at 
first — just  when  he  had  risen  to  forensic  heights, 
and  had  been  warmed  by  the  twofold  heat  of 
virtue  and  righteous  indignation! 

He  drew  a  chair  for  his  first  patron  at  a 
decorous  proximity  to  himself,  and  took  his 
own  place  at  the  desk,  in  an  attitude  of  grave 
attention.  While  he  sat  thus  he  returned  the 
visitor's  scrutiny,  observing  that  the  face  of 
the  man  before  him  was  as  of  one  prematurely 
old,  though  the  actual  age  of  his  prospective 
client  could  not  have  been  more  than  thirty; 
and  Phileas  drew  thence  certain  other  deduc- 
tions that  did  not  tend  to  optimism.  A  pause 
of  several  moments  ensued,  during  which  the 
stranger  continued  to  regard  the  figure  at  the 
desk  with  close  attention,  and,  as  Phileas 
perceived,  allowed  his  glance  to  rest  signifi- 


20  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

cantly  upon  the  ruddy  hair.  He  broke  the 
silence  rather  irrelevantly. 

"You've  got  a  tidy  little  spot  here,"  he  said, 
letting  his  eyes  stray  to  the  shelves,  the  chairs, 
and  to  the  broad  window,  where  the  green 
shade  but  partially  obscured  the  sunbeams 
that  were  playing  obtrusively  over  the  floor; 
"and  I  reckon  that  it  costs  a  neat  sum." 

Phileas  briefly  assented. 

"Got  any  customers  yet  for  your  wares?" 
the  stranger  inquired. 

"I  have  been  occupying  the  premises  for 
only  a  week,"  the  lawyer  responded  stiffly, 
repressing  an  inclination  to  display  another  of 
those  arts  wherein  he  had  attained  some 
distinction  at  the  University,  and  knock  the 
questioner  down. 

"Which  means  to  say,"  pursued  the  visitor, 
with  exasperating  slowness,  "that  you  ain't 
got  any  custom  yet." 

The  irascible  temperament  of  which  the  red 
hair  was  a  visible  symbol  was  becoming  danger- 
ously irritated  by  this  catechising,  coupled 
with  something  in  the  other's  appearance  that 
Phileas  found  repellent. 

"I  must  say,  sir,"  he  observed,  striving  to 
maintain  his  calmly  judicial  tone,  "that  if 
your  object  in  coming  here  was  to  put 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  21 

questions    concerning    my   private    affairs — " 

But  the  visitor  interrupted. 

"Hold  on  thar!"  he  cried.  "I'm  coming  to 
the  object  of  my  visit  all  right  enough,  Mr. 
Fox, — oh,  yes,  indeed,  Mr.  Fox!" 

The  repetition  of  the  name  seemed  to  afford 
the  newcomer  a  very  solid  satisfaction,  and 
he  chuckled  and  -leaned  back  in  his  chair, 
surveying  the  practitioner  once  more  with  his 
ferret-like  eyes. 

"Those  sentiments  you  was  airing  when  I 
opened  the  door,"  he  went  on,  with  a  look 
that  was  intended  to  be  humorous,  "has  a 
sartain  monetary  value.  I  suppose  that's  why 
most  young  fellers  indulge  in  them,  espe- 
cially at  the  start.  They  take  a  jury,  sometimes 
a  judge;  it's  only  the  opposing  counsel  that 
they  don't  take,  nary  a  nickel." 

During  this  bit  of  criticism,  which  was 
peculiarly  distasteful  to  a  young  man's  sensi- 
tive vanity,  as  well  as  to  some  other  and  higher 
feeling  that  was  deeply  ingrained  in  the  young 
lawyer's  nature,  Phileas  colored  with  vexa- 
tion, and  moved  uneasily  in  his  chair. 

"I  would  be  obliged,"  he  said  at  last,  looking 
at  his  watch,  "if  you  would  proceed  to  busi- 
ness." 

"What's  your  hurry?"  inquired  the  stranger, 


22  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

jocosely.  "Got  a  big  case  waiting  for  you? 
Due  at  the  courts?" 

"I  am  due  at  my  luncheon  in  twenty 
minutes,"  answered  Phileas,  curtly. 

The  visitor  shook  his  head. 

"Let  me  tell  you,  young  feller,  that  patience 
is  very  necessary  in  the  profession  that  you've 
took  up,  and  I'd  advise  you  to  practise  the 
same.  But  since  you  are  in  such  a  hurry, 
I  may  as  well  spit  out  the  'biz'  at  once." 

Phileas  could  scarcely  conceal  his  disgust 
at  the  brutal  vulgarity  of  the  other,  but  he 
kept  his  eyes  fixed  upon  the  desk  and  waited. 
The  stranger  leaned  forward  impressively,  and 
laid  a  hand  on  the  lawyer's  arm. 

"Look  here,  Mr.  Fox,"  he  said,  speaking 
in  a  low  and  cautious  tone.  "There's  money 
in  what  I'm  going  to  propose,  Mr.  Fox,  if 
only  you'll  give  me  your  help  in  chasing  a 
goose." 

This  singular  client  was  so  amused  at  his 
own  witticism  that  he  chuckled  and  laughed 
till  the  tears  ran  down  his  thin  cheeks,  while 
the  lawyer's  face  remained  ominously  grave. 
The  visitor,  in  fact,  had  studied  to  little  advan- 
tage those  characteristics  of  which  the  bright 
blue  eye,  and  manly  and  candid  bearing  were 
the  outward  tokens.  Despite  the  warm  and 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  23 

generous  sentiments  which  he  had  overheard 
on  opening  the  door,  he  was  persuaded  of  two 
things:  first,  that  all  those  factors  mentioned 
above  would  be  valuable  assets  in  the  game 
which  he  was  playing;  and,  second,  that 
every  one  of  these  things  could  be  bought. 

His  manner  suddenly  changed  from  the 
lightly  facetious  tone  he  had  adopted  in 
introducing  himself.  The  laugh  died  from  his 
face  and  the  chuckle  from  his  throat.  His 
beady  eyes  became  keen  as  those  of  a  beagle 
upon  the  scent;  his  thin  lips,  sharp  and 
decisive;  his  whole  aspect,  that  of  one  who 
might  prove,  in  any  given  circumstances, 
shrewd,  merciless,  unscrupulous. 

He  began  by  stating  the  really  exorbitant 
fee  which  he  was  prepared  to  pay,  being  of 
opinion  that  the  dazzle  of  gold  was  the  best 
means  of  obscuring  the  moral  sense.  The 
sum  mentioned  caused  the  lawyer's  heart  to 
beat,  though  it  scarcely  seemed  possible  that 
such  an  amount  could  really  come  into  his 
possession.  The  stranger  readily  noted  the 
effect  which  his  communication  had  produced, 
and  he  went  on,  in  guarded  but  perfectly 
clear  and  concise  language,  to  explain  the 
end  he  had  in  view,  and  his  need  of  the 
attorney's  services. 


24  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

Phileas  listened  in  growing  amazement  while 
the  other's  explanation  revealed  to  the  white- 
souled  young  man,  fresh  from  the  high  ideals 
and  religious  atmosphere  of  his  Alma  Mater,  a 
degree  of  iniquity,  a  depth  of  the  lowest  chi- 
canery, such  as  he  could  never  have  imagined. 
When  he  had  begun  fully  to  realize  what  his 
visitor  really  meant,  and  in  what  he  was  asking 
his  co-operation,  Phileas  suddenly  sprang  from 
his  chair  and  threw  open  his  office  door. 
Before  his  would-be  client  could  guess  at 
his  intention,  the  lawyer  had  seized  him  by 
the  collar,  jerked  him  upright  upon  the  floor, 
and  hurried  him  out  of  the  apartment  and 
down  the  broad  corridor  to  the  elevator. 
The  miserable  wretch  was  as  nothing  in  the 
grasp  of  one  who  had  so  often  prevailed  in  the 
arena  of  athletics.  So  burning  was  Phileas' 
indignation  that,  had  a  stairway  intervened, 
the  rascal  would  have  been  in  danger  of  being 
summarily  thrown  down.  As  it  was,  the  attor- 
ney brought  his  swift  career  to  a  sudden  stop 
at  the  wire  door  of  the  elevator.  That  machine 
was  in  process  of  ascent;  and  Phileas  remem- 
bered just  in  time  his  professional  dignity, 
which  must  necessarily  be  maintained.  He 
gave  his  visitor  a  parting  shake,  and  deposited 
him  in  a  heap  upon  the  ground. 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  25 

The  latter  raised  himself  slowly,  and,  fixing 
upon  the  young  attorney  a  glance  which 
contained  the  venom  of  half  a  dozen  asps,  hissed 
out:  "You'll  pay  for  this,  Mr.  Fox, — Mr.  Fox!" 

The  double  mention  of  the  name  was  uttered 
so  as  to  convey  a  personal  insult;  and  perhaps 
it  was  as  well  for  the  speaker  that  the  eleva- 
tor, arriving  just  then,  prevented  any  further 
action  on  the  part  of  the  distinguished  athlete. 
He,  with  a  parting  scowl  at  the  miscreant, 
returned  to  his  office,  the  door  of  which"!  he 
closed  with  no  gentle  hand.  Rushing  over 
to  the  window,  he  threw  up  the  sash  to  the 
highest,  as  if  to  purify  the  atmosphere.  The 
wholesome  sunshine,  the  bright  sky  above, 
the  pure  air  which  he  inhaled  in  deep  draughts, 
seemed  needed  to  restore  his  equilibrium. 

That  the  wretch  should  have  dared  to  come 
into  his  office  with  his  vile  schemes  and  base 
proposals  seemed  to  his  inexperience  an  intol- 
erable affront — he  who  had  so  high  an  idea 
of  the  dignity  of  the  law,  and  who  had  resolved 
to  uphold  its  highest  traditions,  and  to  take 
for  his  exemplars  those  who  had  been  its 
incorruptible  pillars.  He  wondered,  helplessly, 
if  there  were  indeed  men  even  of  average 
education  and  decent  upbringing  who  would 
lend  themselves  to  schemes  so  nefarious  solely 


26  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

for  the  sake  of  gain.  None  know  better  than 
he  the  necessity  for  that  commodity  vulgarly 
described  as  filthy  lucre.  The  need  thereof 
was  staring  him  daily  in  the  face;  and  yet 
he  was  glad  to  feel  that  not  for  all  the  money 
in  the  world  would  lie  part  with  one  jot  of 
his  manhood,  his  integrity,  or  his  sense  of 
moral  fitness.  Boyish  as  he  was,  reckless 
almost  as  he  had  been  at  college,  the  leader 
in  many  sports,  too  often  in  mischievous 
pranks,  he  was  wholesome  in  every  fibre  of 
his  nature,  transparently  honest,  and  firm  as 
a  rock  in  his  convictions. 

He  reflected  gloomily,  as  he  seated  himself 
once  more  at  his  desk,  that  this  was  not  a 
very  propitious  opening  to  a  career  upon 
which  so  many  hopes  had  been  based.  He 
felt  intimately  convinced  that  he  owed  this 
insulting  visit,  and  the  astounding  proposition 
which  had  been  made  to  him  during  its 
progress,  in  a  large  measure  to  the  unhappy 
coincidence  of  the  color  of  his  hair,  with  his 
all  too  suggestive  surname.  The  very  tone  in 
which  his  late  visitor  had  pronounced  that 
name  still  sounded  in  his  ears  and  rankled 
deep  in  his  heart. 

As  his  temper  cooled  down,  however,  he 
began  to  take  himself  to  task  for  its  violent 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  27 

manifestation.  It  would  have  been  much 
better,  he  thought,  to  refuse  the  proposal 
with  firmness  and  dignity,  ordering  the  crea- 
ture out  of  his  office,  of  course,  but  retaining 
control  of  his  anger,  righteous  though  it  had 
been.  By  no  means -should  he  have  laid  hands 
on  his  objectionable  client.  Nevertheless,  he 
chuckled  to  himself  as  he  remembered  the 
shaking  he  had  given  the  miscreant,  and 
felt  only  sorry  that  he  had  not  added  a  kick 
to  his  other  attentions.  Thus  inconsistently 
did  he  conclude  his  self -accusation. 

Not  the  slightest  feeling  of  regret  found 
place  in  his  emotions  for  the  money  he  might 
have  earned,  though  the  amount  mentioned 
would  have  saved  him  for  many  a  day  from 
pressing  monetary  difficulties,  and  set  his  feet 
securely  upon  the  thorny  path  he  had  elected 
to  tread.  The  whole  incident  left  an  un- 
pleasant impression  upon  his  mind,  and  the 
spectre  of  Discouragement  showed  a  dispo- 
sition to  fasten  its  fangs  upon  a  temperament 
prone  at  times  to  its  influence;  for  they  who 
are  the  most  sanguine  upon  the  one  hand 
are  the  most  easily  cast  down  upon  the  other. 

Little  took  place  for  several  days  to  raise 
the  hopes  that  had  been  thus  cruelly  cast 
down,  until  that  memorable  Friday  afternoon 


28  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

when  there  occurred  an  event  destined  not 
only  to  have  an  effect  upon  his  professional 
and  financial  prospects,  but  to  influence  his 
whole  life. 


III. 

ON  that  particular  afternoon,  as  Phileas 
sat  at  his  desk,  with  his  folio  open 
before  him,  at  that  fascinating  case 
which  had  so  much  absorbed  his  mind,  there 
was  a  gentle  and  deprecating  knock  at  the 
door,  and  it  opened  only  on  his  repeated 
summons  to  enter.  That  knock  set  his  heart 
beating  and  his  nerves  fluttering,  though  he 
could  scarcely  have  told  why.  Perhaps  he 
had  a  vision  of  some  lovely  damsel  who  should 
follow  that  knock  into  the  room.  Instead, 
and  with  a  surprise  which  gave  him  almost 
a  shock  of  repulsion,  he  beheld,  thrust  in  at 
the  aperture,  the  black  woolly  head,  plentifully 
besprinkled  with  gray,  of  an  aged  Negro. 
The  face  was  deeply  lined  and  wrinkled  as 
with  the  passage  of  years.  The  head  was 
followed  by  a  body,  clad  in  a  livery  that  had 
once  been  gorgeous,  but  which  was  now  merely 
quaint  and  antiquated. 

Phileas  stared  without  speaking;  and  the 
Negro,  with  a  bow  that  would  not  have  dis- 
graced an  emperor,  began  to  speak  in  a  low 
and  softly  modulated  voice,  and  in  an  accent 


30  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

that  inevitably  recalled  the  sugar  plantations 
of  "Virginny"  or  the  Carolinas. 

"Have  I  the  distinguished  honor  of  ad- 
dressing Mr.  Phileas  Fox?" 

"You  have,"  answered  Phileas,  with  an 
amused  twinkle  in  his  eyes.  "Is  there  any- 
thing I  can  do  for  you?" 

"Yes,  sah, — yes,  Mr.  Fox,"  said  the  Negro, 
rolling  his  eyes  about  the  apartment,  and 
letting  them  rest  upon  the  curtain.  "May 
I  inquire  if  we  are  quite  alone?" 

Phileas  laughed. 

"Oh,  you  need  not  be  afraid,  Uncle!"  he 
replied  carelessly.  "Take  a  seat  and  let  me 
hear  your  business." 

The  Negro  so  invited,  gathering  up  the 
skirts  of  his  long  coat,  took  the  proffered 
chair,  which  he  brought  into  close  proximity 
with  the  desk. 

"Well,  sah,"  he  said,  speaking  still  with 
the  air  of  perfect  courtesy  and  respect,  and 
that  indefinable  something  in  manner  and 
speech  which  marked  him  as  a  servant  of 
the  old  school,  "I  am  Cadwallader  Jones, 
and  I  have  been  sent  here,  sah,  by  ole  Missis 
herself,  to  discover  if  you  could  make  a  con- 
fidential visit  to  her  residence." 

"'Ole  Missis'?"  repeated  the  other,  vaguely. 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  31 

"Yes,  sah,"  assented  the  Negro. 

"But  what  is  her  name  and  address, — I 
mean  where  is  her  residence?" 

The  Negro  drew  himself  up  as  if  he  were 
somewhat  offended  and  a  little  bewildered  too. 
It  seemed  to  him  that  every  New  Yorker 
should  know  by  this  time  whose  carriage  it 
was  that  he  drove,  and  what  was  the  name 
of  his  employer,  and  where  was  located  the 
ancient  mansion  which  she  inhabited.  He 
forgot  how  the  generations  in  New  York, 
succeeding  each  other,  are  swallowed  up  as 
in  a  mighty  sea,  and  those  famous  or  wealthy, 
or  otherwise  prominent,  in  one  quarter  cen- 
tury, are  submerged  and  forgotten  in  the 
next. 

"Ole  Missis,  sah,"  he  said,  with  a  shade  of 
reproach  in  his  voice,  "is  Mrs.  Wilson, — Mrs. 
James  Van  Vechten  Wilson." 

Phileas  being  duly  impressed,  and  by  this 
time  in  a  very  agreeable  flutter,  took  a  pad 
from  the  desk  and  transferred  thereto  the 
name,  waiting  with  pen  upraised  for  the  aged 
servitor  to  proceed. 

"Her  address?"  he  suggested,  after  a  time;  and 
the  Negro  cast  upon  him  a  glance  of  surprise 
not  unmingled  with  contempt. 

"Her  address,   sah,"  he  replied  with  digni- 


32  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

fied^brevity,  "is  at  the  ole  mansion,  corner  of 
Rutgers  and  Monroe  Streets." 
!]|The  pen  almost  dropped  from  Phileas'  hand, 
and  through  his  veins  ran  an  icy  shudder. 
It  seemed  to  him  weird  and  fantastic,  some- 
how, that  that  address  of  all  others  should 
be  given.  It  was  as  if  the  dead  had  come 
to  life,  or  some  personage  had  stepped  forth 
from  the  pages  of  his  folio.  Why,  it  was 
that  very  mansion  that  had  given  rise  to  the 
whole  litigation  between  Spooner  vs.  Vorst.  He 
could  scarcely  conceal  his  agitation.  The  blood 
mounted  through  his  cheeks  to  his  forehead, 
and  his  hand  visibly  trembled,  though  he 
was  anxious  to  hide  all  traces  of  emotion 
from  the  Negro. 

The  latter  presently  continued: 

"And,  Mr.  Fox,  sah,  may  I  propose  that 
this  visit  to  my  ole  Missis — I  should  say  Mrs. 
Wilson — shall  be  considered  as  confidential, — 
entirely  confidential  ? ' ' 

"Why,  of  course!"  said  the  attorney,  a 
trifle  nettled.  "I  should  never  have  thought 
of  mentioning  it  to  anybody." 

"No,  sah,"  said  the  Negro, — "to  be  sure 
not,  sah.  But  the  truth  is,  my  ole  Missis 
declared  that  the  'utmost  secrecy'  was  neces- 
sary. Mrs.  Wilson  said:  'I  should  wish  that 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  33 

Mr.  Fox  could  make  it  convenient  to  call 
upon  me  about  half -past  eight  o'clock,' — that 
is  to  say,  after  dark.  She  preferred  not  to 
write  a  note;  for,  as  she  remarked,  notes 
so  often  go  astray." 

"To-night,  at  half -past  eight,"  said  Phileas, 
"I  shall  call  upon  Mrs.  Wilson." 

And  this  time  he  did  not  write  upon  the 
pad,  because  he  was  quick  to  take  the  Negro's 
hint  about  the  danger  of  writing  down  infor- 
mation that  was  to  be  kept  secret;  and, 
in  the  second  place,  he  was  well  aware  that 
there  was  not  the  smallest  probability  that 
he  should  forget  the  time,  the  appointment 
itself,  or  the  mysterious  dwelling,  concerning 
which  he  had  so  lively  a  curiosity.  After 
the  messenger  had  gone,  he  speculated  as  to 
whether  the  old  mansion  had  remained  intact, 
and  whether  the  present  tenant  even  so  much 
as  knew  the  various  phases  of  its  history. 

That  day  passed  slowly,  as  days  always 
do  that  have  an  excitement  waiting  at  the 
end  of  them.  Phileas  dined  with  a  friend 
and  colleague  at  the  Lawyers'  Club;  and 
when  the  shades  of  evening  had  fallen  over 
the  city,  he  excused  himself  on  the  ground 
of  a  pressing  engagement,  and  hastened  home 
to  his  lodgings.  There  he  arrayed  himself 


34  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

as  professionally  as  possible,  giving  a  groan 
as  he  regarded  the  fiery  red  of  his  hair  in  the 
glass.  His  sole  resource  was  to  brush  it  with 
desperate  energy,  that  at  least  it  might  be 
made  as  unobtrusive  as  possible. 

This  done,  he  set  out  for  the  practically 
unknown  regions  which  long  before  his  birth 
had  had  a  distinctive  character  of  their  own, 
belonging  to  the  old  and  once  aristocratic 
Seventh  Ward.  He  took  the  cable  car  down 
Third  Avenue  to  Chatham,  where,  instead  of 
transferring,  he  elected  to  walk,  having  still 
half  an  hour's  time  upon  his  hands.  He 
threaded  his  way  along  East  Broadway,  which 
once  in  Hie  long  ago  had  been  bordered  upon 
either  side  by  solid  and  even  stately  mansions. 
The  remnants  of  these  ancient  residences  yet 
lent  a  tinge  of  past  dignity  to  the  environment 
that  had  so  sadly  degenerated  in  nearly  all  its 
portions  as  to  be  fairly  describable  as  a  slum. 
Past  Catherine  and  Market  and  Pike  Streets 
the  lawyer's  course  led,  until  he  reached  Rut- 
gers, where  he  was  confronted  by  a  church 
which  he  knew  to  be  Catholic. 

Having  still  a  few  moments  to  spare,  he 
entered  and  knelt  unobtrusively  in  one  of  the 
back  pews.  Evening  service  was  just  over, 
and  the  smell  of  the  incense  perfumed  the  air. 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  35 

The  sexton  was  putting  out  the  lights  upon 
the  altar;  but  the  lamp  of  the  sanctuary  shed 
a  strong,  clear  radiance  over  the  tabernacle 
and  the  entire  chancel.  Phileas  felt  that  sense 
of  unreality,  and  yet  of  spiritual  nearness 
with  the  world  unseen,  that  strikes  the  mind 
on  entering  a  church,  especially  at  nightfall. 
The  few  worshippers  who  lingered  seemed 
shadowy  and  phantom-like.  The  distant  mur- 
mur of  bustle  and  confusion  coming  in  through 
the  open  windows  belonged,  as  it  were,  to 
some  other  existence.  Mr.  Fox  bent  his  head 
for  a  few  moments  in  earnest  prayer.  He 
recommended  to  God  that  first  case,  which 
he  felt  might  prove  an  auspicious  beginning 
to  his  chosen  career,  and  which,  from  its 
coincidence  with  the  subject  of  his  late  inves- 
tigations, struck  him  as  out  of  the  ordinary. 
He  strode  rapidly  down  the  street,  passing 
Henry  and  Madison,  with  the  silver  ribbon 
of  the  East  River  gleaming  before  him  under 
the  soft  light  of  the  stars.  Through  the  masts 
of  the  shipping  he  could  discern  the  opposite 
shore,  with  its  lights  twinkling  through  the 
haze  of  the  summer  twilight.  At  twenty-five 
minutes  past  eight  Phileas  stood  upon  the 
corner  of  Monroe  and  Rutgers,  gazing  with 
fascinated  interest  at  the  dwelling  and  its 


36  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

surroundings,  which  might  be  truly  described 
as  an  oasis  in  that  desert.  He  saw  a  park- 
like  extent  of  ground,  with  a  broad,  smooth 
lawn  exquisitely  kept,  bordered  by  tall  trees 
a  century  old  at  least, — or  more  probably 
coeval  with  the  earliest  settlers  on  Manhattan. 
The  breeze  blowing  up  from  the  river  stirred 
the  thick  branches  with  a  mournful,  sighing 
sound;  and  the  branches  themselves  made 
weird,  fantastic  shadows  upon  that  spot  of 
ground,  that  would  seem  to  have  been  pre- 
served by  enchantment,  there  in  the  heart 
of  the  purlieus. 

The  lawyer  gazed  for  an  instant  or  two 
longer  upon  that  scene;  then,  with  a  tremor 
passing  through  his  frame,  he  entered  at  the 
broad  iron  gate,  and  passed  with  firm  and 
rapid  step  up  the  gravelled  path.  He  had 
an  excellent  view  of  the  house, — a  square, 
solid  construction,  to  which  a  pair  of  Norman 
turrets  gave  a  grimly  castellated  appearance. 
Only  a  light  or  two  in  the  windows  relieved 
the  gloom. 

"Ugh!"  said  Phileas  to  himself.  "It's  like 
venturing  into  a  wizard's  den  or  the  castle  of 
some  robber  baron." 

He  rang  the  bell,  and  it  sounded  and 
resounded  with  a  note  clear  and  silvery  indeed, 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  37 

but  with  a  long-drawn  out  inflection.  It 
seemed  to  break  a  silence  that  was  perennial. 
The  modern  young  man,  who  stood  upon  the 
steps  and  waited  with  all  the  impatience  that 
characterized  the  end-of-the-century  youth,  felt 
that  the  summons  of  the  bell  was  too  long- 
drawn  out,  and  that  the  answer  thereto  was 
correspondingly  delayed.  At  last — and  to  him 
the  interval  seemed  very  long — he  heard  foot- 
steps advancing  from  a  distance;  and  the 
next  instant  the  broad  oaken  door  was  thrown 
open  to  admit  the  young  practitioner  into 
regions  problematically  vague,  captivatingly 
mysterious. 


IV. 

THE  first  object  which  Phileas  perceived 
was  the  figure  of  the  aged  Negro,  so 
quaint  that  it  appeared  to  belong 
rather  to  the  seventeenth  century  than  to  the 
nineteenth.  Past  him  was  a  large,  square  hall, 
lighted  by  wax  tapers  in  a  crystal  chandelier 
suspended  from  the  ceiling.  The  old  Negro 
made  a  low  bow,  and  waited  for  the  visitor 
to  speak. 

"I  have  come,"  said  Phileas,  in  a  voice 
which  was  unconsciously  low  and  suppressed, 
"according  to  appointment." 

"Yes,  sah, — yes,  Mr.  Fox,"  responded  the 
Negro.  "If  you  will  be  kind  enough  to  step 
in  here,  sah,  to  the  library,  I  will  acquaint 
Mrs.  Wilson  with  your  presence." 

Lest  there  should  be  any  mistake  about 
the  announcement,  the  young  lawyer  drew 
from  his  pocket  a  card  whereon  was  inscribed, 
"Mr.  Phileas  Fox";  and  upon  this  he  wrote, 
"By  appointment." 

As  he  stepped  into  the  library  and  strolled 
about  there,  unheeding  the  parting  invitation 
of  the  Negro  to  take  a  chair,  and  the  still 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  39 

more  pressing  invitation  of  a  half  score  com- 
fortable armchairs  themselves,  he  distinctly 
heard,  somewhere  in  the  upper  or  farther 
gloom,  a  clear  voice.  Presumably  it  was  that 
of  a  young  girl,  who,  evidently  reading  the 
card  to  some  one  else,  remarked: 

"Mr.  Phileas  Fox.'  What  an  ominous  name 
for  a  lawyer!" 

Phileas  flushed  to  the  very  roots  of  that 
hair  which  he  felt  to  be  another  unfavorable 
circumstance,  likely  to  militate  against  his 
chances  of  success.  After  that  one  sound, 
there  was  silence  so  deep  and  profound  that 
the  inhabitants  of  that  spacious  residence 
might  have  been  buried  in  an  enchanted  sleep. 

Then  at  last  the  stillness  was  broken  by 
a  slow,  shuffling  step,  and  the  sharp  tap  of 
a  cane  upon  the  polished  floor;  and  presently 
appeared  in  the  doorway,  aided  by  the  ancient 
Negro,  a  woman  of  advanced  years,  and, 
as  Phileas  instantaneously  reflected,  most  cer- 
tainly not  the  owner  of  the  silvery  voice  which 
had  made  that  damaging  remark  concerning 
his  cognomen.  The  lady  was  richly  but  plainly 
dressed  in  a  gown  of  brown  silk,  with  a  small 
embroidered  leaf  upon  its  surface,  that  caught 
and  held  the  visitor's  observant  eye.  Hanging 
sleeves,  in  the  fashion  of  earlier  days,  displayed 


40  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

a  second  sleeve  of  peerless  lace,  that  served 
only  to  emphasize  the  leanness  of  the  wrinkled 
arm,  of  which  it  allowed  too  evident  glimpses. 
A  silver-headed  cane  was  used  to  support  the 
faltering  steps,  which  required  Cadwallader's 
services  upon  the  other  hand.  The  Negro 
seated  her  in  an  armchair  beside  a  heavy 
mahogany  table,  and,  with  a  ceremonious  bow, 
stood  near  the  door  waiting  for  further  orders. 

"You  may  go,"  said  the  old  lady,  turning 
toward  him  with  a  wave  of  dismissal;  and 
the  Negro  instantly  vanished,  closing  the 
door  upon  himself  with  a  swift  and  noiseless 
movement. 

Meantime  the  old  lady,  leaning  back  in  her 
chair,  turned  a  penetrating  gaze  upon  the 
expectant  lawyer.  The  eyes  were  dark  and 
harmonized  well  with  an  almost  swarthily 
dark  complexion,  a  prominent  nose,  and  a 
mouth  which  had  probably  been  firm  and 
decisive  in  its  character.  It  had  fallen  in 
now  at  either  corner,  after  the  fashion  of  age; 
and  the  deep  lines  on  either  side  of  the  nose, 
sharply  accentuated  by  the  years,  together 
with  the  clearly  defined  outline  of  chin  and 
jaw,  gave  an  almost  skeleton-like  appearance 
to  the  face.  Still,  it  was  a  striking  counte- 
nance upon  which  Phileas  Fox  now  gazed 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  41 

for  the  first  time,  and  one  not  easily  to  be 
forgotten.  Despite  the  extreme  old  age,  it 
was  a  face  of  power,  suggesting  that  the  light 
of  hidden  fires  might  still  be  enkindled  behind 
those  piercing  eyes. 

"You  are  punctual,  Mr.  Fox,"  said  the 
old  lady  at  last,  after  a  careful  scrutiny  of 
the  latter 's  immaculately  clean  and  eminently 
youthful  and  wholesome  appearance,  which 
seemed  to  afford  her  satisfaction. 

"I  believe  that  is  expected  in  one  of  my 
profession,"  replied  Phileas,  with  a  smile  which 
was  clearly  forced,  since  he  felt  altogether 
uncomfortable;  his  college  manners  seemed 
entirely  out  of  place  in  presence  of  this  sur- 
vival of  the  feudal  system. 

"Yes,"  said  the  old  lady,  drawing  out  the 
monosyllable  with  a  sound  that  was  almost 
a  hiss.  "But  expectations  are  not  always 
realized,  are  they?" 

Phileas  felt  constrained  to  say  that  they 
were  not;  though  the  remark  sounded  trivial — 
in  fact,  utterly  banal, — and  was  so  dismissed 
by  the  old  lady,  who  proceeded  at  once  to 
her  subject. 

"No  doubt  you  will  wonder,  Mr.  Fox,"  she 
said,  "why,  in  a  city  which  abounds  perhaps 
more  than  any  other  in  the  world  with  legal 


42  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

practitioners,  and  where  many  have  attained 
eminence,  I  should  have  selected  one  who  is 
so  young."  She  made  him  a  little  gracious 
inclination  of  the  head,  with  a  reassuring 
smile,  thus  seeming  to  inform  him  that  youth 
was  by  no  means  his  fault,  and  an  error  which 
might  be  condoned.  "And,"  she  proceeded, 
"because  of  his  youth,  still  unknown." 

Phileas,  who  himself  had  been  pondering 
over  this  very  enigma,  knew  not  how  to  reply. 
In  fact,  his  years — the  twenty-five  years  of 
which  he  had  been  so  proud — seemed  to 
dwindle  down  into  mere  juvenility  within 
this  fortress  of  antiquity. 

"Therefore,  before  we  proceed  any  further 
on  our  business,  I  am  going  to  give  you  my 
reason  for  so  doing.  That  will  put  you  at 
ease  with  regard  to  the  procedure  which  is 
expected  of  you,  and  will  also,  I  trust,  settle 
preliminaries  on  a  satisfactory  basis." 

She  leaned  back  in  her  chair  after  she  had 
spoken,  as  if  the  effort  had  fatigued  her;  and, 
clasping  her  long,  slender  fingers  before  her 
in  an  attitude  which  has  somehow  gone  out 
of  fashion,  or  of  which  the  secret  has  been 
lost,  observed: 

"The  reason  is  to  me  a  good  and  sufficient 
one  for  reposing  in  you  a  quite  extraordinary 
confidence." 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  43 

Phileas'  heart  beat,  and  he  waited  with 
some  anxiety  to  hear  that  reason;  for,  remem- 
bering his  experience  of  the  few  days  previous, 
and  aware  that  dark  secrets  existed  under  the 
fairest  exterior,  he  could  only  hope  that  it 
would  be  indeed  good  and  sufficient.  Her  very 
next  words  served  entirely  to  reassure  him: 

"You  are  acquainted,  I  understand,  with 
Father  Van  Buren?" 

"Oh,  yes,  indeed!"  cried  Phileas,  his  counte- 
nance so  visibly  brightening  that  the  old  lady 
smiled.  "He  was  my  college  professor,  and 
has  ever  since  been  my  best  friend." 

"He  is  also  a  friend  of  mine,  standing  in 
a  relation  still  more  intimate,"  said  the  old 
lady,  "since  he  has  been  my  director  ever 
since  my  reception  into  the  Church  a  year 
ago." 

She  paused,  for  the  clearly  enunciated  and 
well-modulated  sentences  seemed  to  exhaust 
her. 

"Now,  it  is  at  Father  Van  Buren 's  instiga- 
tion that  I  have  drawn  forth  once  more  that 
skeleton  which  I  thought  had  been  forever 
laid  at  rest,  and  which  has  already  afforded 
legal  and  judicial  New  York  sufficient  food  for 
curiosity.  Have  you  ever  heard,  Mr.  Fox — 
and  it  is  only  your  very  recent  admission  to 


44  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

the  bar  which   excuses  the  question, — of  the 
case  of  Spooner  vs.  Vorst?" 

The  lawyer  barely  restrained  a  start  of 
astonishment.  It  seemed,  somehow,  uncanny 
to  hear  mention  in  these  surroundings  of 
that  celebrated  suit.  For  though,  once  the 
Negro  had  given  him  that  memorable  address, 
Phileas  knew  the  premises  to  be  those  under 
dispute,  still  he  had  supposed  that  the  original 
claimants  were  long  at  rest,  or  that  their  suit 
had  gone  to  the  limbo  of  forgotten  cases. 

"Oh,  yes,  I  have  heard  of  it,"  he  said 
eagerly,  "and  am  familiar  with  many  of  its 
details." 

"Indeed!"  cried  the  old  lady,  in  a  surprise 
which,  the  young  man  could  plainly  see, 
bordered  upon  incredulity.  "As  for  instance — ?" 

If  she  expected  to  catch  the  young  lawyer 
tripping,  she  was  presently  proved  wrong  by 
the  facility  with  which  he  brought  forth  and 
laid  before  her,  a  few  of  the  chief  details  of 
that  continuous  lawsuit. 

"You  astonish  me,"  said  the  old  lady.  "I 
will  admit  that  you  astonish  me.  Father 
Van  Buren,  having  counselled  me,  for  the 
reasons  I  shall  presently  state,  to  reopen  the 
case,  likewise  referred  to  you  as  a  man  whom 
he  believed,  had  a  future  before  him,  and 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  45 

who,  to  make  a  beginning,  required  precisely 
such  an  opportunity  as  this  case  will  afford. 
He  also  recommended  you  as  conspicuously 
honest  and  worthy  of  trust.  But  I  must 
admit  that  his  confidence  is  more  than 
justified  by  the  grasp  you  have  displayed 
upon  a  subject  which  I  had  believed  to  be 
forgotten." 

Phileas,  encouraged  by  her  encomiums,  burst 
into  a  glowing  description  of  how  his  interest 
had  been  awakened,  and  how  he  had  revolved 
the  case  in  his  mind,  and  formulated  a  theory 
by  which  could  be  manifested  the  justice 
of  the  claim  of  Martha  Ann  Spooner,  who 
had  elicited  all  his  sympathies. 

There  was  silence  in  the  apartment  after 
he  had  thus  spoken,  and  a  chill  that,  despite 
the  season,  caused  the  warm-blooded  champion 
of  athletics  to  shiver.  The  light  of  the  wax 
tapers  seemed  too  feeble  for  the  size  of  that 
vast  room,  and  its  corners  were  filled  with 
shadows.  One  of  their  number  spluttered  and 
died.  The  figure  in  the  chair  also  sat  very 
silent;  and  the  piercing  eyes  were  fixed  upon 
the  lawyer  with  an  intensity  that,  somehow, 
made  him  uncomfortable.  The  expression  of 
the  face,  too,  was  peculiar,  and  added  to  his 
uneasiness.  He  stopped  in  the  midst  of  that 


46  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

glowing  peroration  almost  as  suddenly  as  he 
had  discontinued  another  flight  of  oratory 
when  a  miscreant  had  invaded  his  office. 

"May  I  ask,  Mr.  Fox,"  began  the  old  lady, 
in  an  accent  which  once  more  made  him 
uncomfortable,  "if  you  have  any  idea  at  all 
who  I  am?" 

Phileas  answered  hesitatingly:  "I  was  led 
to  understand  by  your  messenger  that  you 
were  Mrs.  Wilson." 

"The  messenger,  my  servant  Cadwallader, 
was  quite  correct,"  assented  the  old  lady. 
"But  I  have  an  identity  that  is  quite  separate 
from  that  one.  Have  you  made  no  effort 
to  divine  the  probable  truth?" 

Then  for  the  first  time  flashed  upon  Phileas' 
mind  a  supposition  which,  in  connection  with 
what  he  had  just  been  saying,  and  the  pecu- 
liarity of  his  client's  tone,  struck  him  as  barely 
possible. 

"Has  it  not  at  least  occurred  to  you,"  went 
on  Mrs.  Wilson,  "that  I  could  be  no  other 
than  Martha  Ann  Spooner  herself?" 

"I  had  never  thought  of  that  possibility!" 
cried  Phileas,  eagerly.  "In  fact,  I  was  under 
the  impression  that — " 

He  paused.  It  did  not  seem  to  him  as 
exactly  within  the  proprieties  to  admit  that 


» 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  47 

he  had  supposed  the  "party  of  the  first  part" 
to  have  been  long  since  dead.  The  old  lady, 
however,  saved  him  from  any  anxiety  on  that 
score. 

"Of  course,"  she  said,  "you  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  principals  in  such  an 
antediluvian  contest  must  long  before  now 
have  vanished  from  the  scene?" 

Her  voice  as  she  thus  spoke  became  queru- 
lous, with  a  thin,  rasping  sound,  as  of  the 
friction  of  one  metal  against  another;  it 
seemed  to  express  resentment  that  age  should 
have  interfered  with  her  and  her  transactions, 
of  whatever  nature  they  might  be. 

Phileas  felt  as  if,  in  some  curious  fashion, 
the  ground  were  slipping  from  under  his  feet. 
When  she  pronounced  the  name  that  had 
become  so  familiar  to  him  during  those  tedious 
days  in  the  clientless  office,  and  declared  it  to 
be  her  own,  he  had  the  sensation  of  having 
been  suddenly  confronted  by  a  ghost.  She, 
with  her  wax  lights,  her  slow  ringing  bells,  and 
her  own  personality,  seemed  as  far  removed 
as  possible  from  the  world  that  was  bustling 
past  her  doors,  with  its  electricity,  its 
telephones,  and  its  rapid  transit.  That  world 
wherein  she  had  figured,  playing  no  incon- 
siderable part,  was  cut  off  by  an  unfathomable 


48  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

gulf  from  the  new  and  modern  existence,  and 
the  metropolis  with  its  stupendous  and  daily 
increasing  progress. 

"I  have  another  name,  and  still  another 
identity,  which  shall  be  revealed  to  my  learned 
counsel,  should  he  choose  to  undertake  the 
case.  In  the  meantime  let  it  be  understood 
now  and  forever" — and  here  the  speaker 
tapped  sharply  with  her  cane  upon  the  oaken 
floor — "that  whatsoever  passes  between  us 
must  be  wrapped  in  inviolable  secrecy.  Not 
so  much  as  a  whisper  must  pass  beyond  that 
door  without  my  express  direction.  Have  1 
your  promise,  Mr.  Fox?" 

"So  much  I  may  safely  promise,"  replied 
the  young  man,  gravely;  "in  fact,  so  much 
is  required  by  the  etiquette  of  my  profession." 

"Give  me  your  pledge,  sir,  before  I  speak 
further,"  demanded  this  extraordinary  client, 
with  a  manner  and  tone  so  imperious  that 
it  completely  upset  that  first  theory  which 
had  beguiled  his  waiting  hours  at  the  office. 
In  those  reflections,  Martha  Ann  Spooner  had 
been  in  youth — as  he  sometimes  pictured  her 
in  age — weak,  defenceless,  and  the  prey  of 
strong  and  rapacious  men,  represented  by 
"the  party  of  the  second  part,"  John  Vorst. 
Now  he  was  not  so  sure.  He  prepared,  how- 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  49 

ever,  to  take  the  pledge  offered  him  by  his 
venerable  client  in  somewhat  the  same  terms 
as  if  he  had  been  vowing  himself  to  temper- 
ance or  consecrating  himself  to  some  tre- 
mendous undertaking.  As  that  pledge,  so  far, 
bound  him  to  nothing  more  than  the  secrecy 
which  his  own  sense  of  honor  and  professional 
discretion  would  have  enjoined,  he  felt  no 
misgivings. 

"I  here  pledge  myself,  in  the  presence  of 
God,  and  on  my  sacred  word  of  honor,  that 
I  shall  speak  of  nothing  whatsoever  that  has 
here  transpired,  or  may  hereafter  transpire 
at  any  future  interview.  Nor  shall  I  make 
mention,  unauthorized  by  my  client,  of  my 
visits  to  this  house,  or  of  any  other  circum- 
stances whatever  in  connection  with  the  busi- 
ness there  transacted." 

Phileas  Fox  felt  himself,  in  more  senses 
than  one,  breathless  as  he  repeated  this 
long  formula;  and  the  woman  who  had  just 
announced  herself  as  that  legally  historic  per- 
sonage, Martha  Ann  Spooner,  sank  back  in 
her  chair  and  remained  for  several  instants 
with  closed  eyes  and  a  general  aspect  of 
profound  weariness. 


V. 

PHILEAS  FOX  waited  for  further  devel- 
opments, seated  as  he  was  at  the  other 
side  of  the  ponderous  table,  with  the 
feeling  that  he  was  dreaming,  and  that  he 
would  suddenly  awake  to  find  that  the  ancient 
house,  the  park  wherein  it  was  situated,  the 
antiquated  Negro,  and  the  old  lady  herself, 
had  vanished.  Outside,  the  sighing  of  the 
wind  in  the  treetops  grew  more  pronounced, 
as  though  a  storm  were  rising;  and  the  breeze 
of  the  night,  coming  in  through  the  open 
window,  caused  the  candles  to  splutter. 

"May  I  trouble  you,  Mr.  Fox,"  said  the 
voice  of  Mrs.  Wilson,  breaking  in  upon  his 
musings,  "to  close  that  window?  I  am  very 
susceptible  to  cold,  and  it  would  be  lamen- 
table were  I  to  catch  a  severe  one  before  this 
business  is  concluded.  Besides,  the  draught 
wastes  the  candles,  that  always  remind  me 
of  human  life, — so  much  of  them  goes  in 
idle  spluttering.  Moreover,  one  never  knows. 
These  grounds  of  ours  attract  the  idle  and 
the  curious.  In  discussing  business  matters, 
it  is  safer  to  have  doors  and  windows  shut." 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  51 

Phileas,  in  obedience  to  these  instructions, 
sprang  from  his  chair,  and  as  expeditiously 
as  possible  closed  the  broad  French  casement 
and  let  down  the  shades. 

"That  is  better  and  safer,"  said  the  old 
lady,  watching  the  agile  figure  with  a  pleased 
interest  and  a  half -wistful  envy.  "I  was  once 
so  active  myself,"  she  added  under  her  breath. 

When  the  lawyer  had  resumed  his  seat, 
and  the  room  was  once  more  silent,  Mrs. 
Wilson  seemed  to  bend  all  her  energies  to  the 
task  that  still  lay  before  her. 

"Mr.  Fox,"  she  said,  "this  may  be  a  case 
which  shall  necessitate  a  vast  amount  of 
labor  and  research.  It  is  possible  that  old 
documents  shall  have  to  be  brought  to  light, 
and  numberless  papers  read.  Conveyance  of 
property,  deeds  of  sale,  and  such  like,  will 
require  to  be  examined.  Some  are  in  the 
courts  here,  others  farther  afield.  Are  you 
prepared  to  undertake  the  task?" 

Phileas,  with  face  fairly  beaming  with  hope- 
fulness, and  the  brave,  bright  spirit  that  of 
old  had  sent  knights-errant  on  their  quest, 
with  a  trace  perhaps  of  self-sufficiency  and 
confidence  in  his  powers  which  belongs  to  the 
mental  equipment  of  youth,  answered  readily 
that  he  would  willingly  undertake  the  case. 


52  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

And  once  more  his  real  kindliness  of  heart  came 
to  the  surface.  Here,  thought  he,  was  an 
aged  woman  battling  against  the  world, — or  at 
least  against  that  portion  of  it  presented  by  the 
rapacious  monster  described  as  "the  party  of 
the  second  part."  Her  white  hairs — of  which 
he  had  to  admit  there  were  few — appealed 
to  him,  as  they  must  appeal  to  any  one  with 
a  spark  of  manliness  in  him;  for  he  had  that 
reverence  for  the  aged,  that  protective  desire 
to  shield  their  weakness,  which  is  surely  the 
very  flower  of  manhood. 

Phileas  expressed  himself  modestly,  quietly, 
and  yet  forcibly  to  that  effect;  and  Mrs. 
Wilson  gazed  at  him  with  an  expression  in 
her  eyes  that  was  at  first  ironical,  even 
quizzical,  but  which  gradually  changed  and 
softened.  For  there  is  something  so  fine  in 
a  whole-hearted  simplicity,  integrity  and  hon- 
esty, that  few  persons  are  so  hardened  as  to 
behold  it  unmoved. 

"It  will  take  very  much  of  your  time,  Mr. 
Fox,  which,  you  will  allow  me  the  freedom 
of  presuming,  is  not  as  yet  over- valuable. 
But  let  me  assure  you  at  the  very  outset  that 
whatever  time  you  may  spend  in  this  service 
shall  be  as  fully  and  generously  recompensed 
as  though  you  were  a  busy  lawyer;  because 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  53 

with  me  expense  is  of  small  moment,  and  the 
qualities  you  may  have  to  bring  to  bear  upon 
this  case  are  of  more  value  than  the  highest 
legal  reputation." 

Phileas  had  reddened  a  little  during  this 
speech;  for  no  one  likes  to  be  told  bluntly 
that  his  time  or  his  professional  reputation 
is  of  little  worth.  But  he  had  a  fund  of 
common-sense  likely  to  prove  serviceable  in 
many  emergencies;  and,  moreover,  his  naturally 
frank  nature  led  him  to  make  as  open  an 
avowal  as  possible  of  his  circumstances,  lest 
the  question  of  remuneration  might  be  based  up- 
on any  misconception  as  to  the  value  of  his  time. 

"I  may  as  well  tell  you,"  he  said,  "so  that 
you  may  take  the  fact  into  consideration  when 
the  subject  of  a  fee  is  under  discussion,  that  I 
am  at  the  present  moment  absolutely  briefless. 
In  the  whole,  wide  city  of  New  York,  not 
one  has  been  found  to  place  his  affairs  in 
my  hands." 

Again  Mrs.   Wilson  smiled. 

"And  how  long,  may  I  ask,  have  you  been 
a  member  of  the  profession?" 

"I  took  possession  of  my  office  just  two 
weeks  ago,"  Phileas  answered. 

The  smile  became  a  laugh,  mirthless  and 
soundless. 


54  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

"O  my  dear  young  man,"  the  old  woman 
cried,  "if  the  time  you  specify  had  been  two 
years  instead  of  two  weeks,  I  should  not  have 
been  surprised  at  the  fact  you  mention!  But 
impatience  is  part  of  youth.  Who  could  wish 
you  to  wait  willingly  for  the  slow-footed 
hours?  I  have,  however,  put  before  you  the 
worst  features  of  the  case  with  regard  to  its 
possible  tedium  and  the  length  of  time  it  may 
consume;  but  there  is  always  the  chance  that 
everything  may  be  arranged  upon  an  amica- 
ble footing,  and  with  but  brief  delay.  Only 
time  can  tell  which  of  these  hypotheses  is 
the  more  correct." 

As  Phileas  made  no  comment,  the  old 
woman  proceeded : 

"Of  the  justice  of  the  case  with  which  you 
are  to  be  entrusted,  I  suppose  you  are 
convinced  by  the  name  of  Father  Van  Buren." 

Phileas  admitted  that  such  was  the  case, 
though  he  added  impulsively: 

"But  your  cause  is  just, — I  am  sure  it  is 
just." 

The  smile  died  slowly  from  the  aged  lips 
as  Mrs.  Wilson  answered: 

"The  case  you  are  being  asked  to  undertake 
is  just, —painfully  just.  'The  mills  of  God 
grind  slowly,  yet  they  grind  exceeding  small.' 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  55 

You  need  have  no  apprehensions  upon  that 
score.  Father  Van  Buren — or,  as  he  more 
correctly  puts  it,  the  grace  of  God,  with  the 
power  of  that  Faith  which  I,  all  unworthy, 
have  been  led  to  embrace — has  triumphed 
over  pride,  avarice,  and  stubbornness.  But — 
I  should  wish  you  to  understand  everything 
before  becoming  my  adviser." 

The  indomitable  spirit  within  that  feeble 
frame  seemed  as  if  nerving  itself  for  an  effort; 
and  the  failing  faculties  in  that  once  vigorous 
body  were  being  marshalled,  as  it  were,  into 
line. 

"Mr.  Fox,"  she  said  presently,  "from  your 
knowledge  of  the  various  phases  of  the  case, 
you  will  perhaps  remember  that  upon  most 
of  those  occasions  when  the  suit  was  brought 
into  the  court,  I,  the  plaintiff,  was  victorious." 

There  was  something  of  triumph,  of  exulta- 
tion, in  her  tone.  She  sat  upright;  her  eyes 
glittered;  she  had  the  appearance  of  one 
who  was  galvanized  back  to  life.  Neverthe- 
less, when  she  had  made  that  statement,  the 
silence  that  followed  was  an  uncomfortable 
one,  and  somehow  lay  heavy  upon  the  spirits 
of  Phileas  Fox. 

"Only  twice  in  all  those  years  were  John 
Vorst  or  his  representatives  successful.  I  had 


56  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

gone  into  the  fight  determined  to  win.  And 
I  warned  him — I  warned  him  before  it  began." 
(Here  the  old  woman  employed  her  cane  to 
stamp  this  truth  upon  the  oaken  floor.)  "I 
warned  him  to  let  us  alone,  me  and  the 
property  I  had  held.  And  what  do  you  think 
was  his  answer,  Mr.  Fox?" 

Phileas  very  naturally  replied  that  he 
could  not  possibly  guess.  But,  having  already 
formed  an  opinion,  weakened  in  some  inde- 
finable manner  since  he  had  come  into  that 
room,  he  was  disposed  to  expect  an  answer 
in  accordance  with  that  preconceived  judg- 
ment. 

"He  said,"  declared  the  plaintiff,  leaning 
forward  upon  the  table  so  as  to  bring  her  face 
into  an  exact  line  with  that  of  her  adviser, 
"that  'right  will  in  some  manner  triumph, 
however  often  it  may  suffer  defeat.'" 

Phileas  started  so  obviously  that  his  arm, 
upon  which  he  had  been  leaning,  slipped  off 
the  polished  table.  Mrs.  Wilson  took  no  heed 
of  the  movement.  She  seemed  rather  to  be 
addressing  some  unseen  personage  who  had 
arisen  from  the  shadows  of  the  years  to 
confront  her. 

"You  were  a  true  prophet,  John  Vorst," 
she  said,  in  her  slow,  incisive  tones.  "Right 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  57 

is  going  to  triumph  at  last,  and  before  it  is 
for  evermore  too  late." 

Phileas,  in  all  his  young,  straightforward 
life,  had  never  hitherto  been  brought  into 
contact  with  one  of  its  involved  mysteries,  nor 
vexed  with  those  complexities  which  perplex 
the  brains  of  casuist  and  jurist.  Some  tragedy, 
some  vital  question  of  right  and  wrong,  was 
about  to  arise  and  encounter  him  sternly.  He 
drew  his  breath  sharply;  and  the  personage 
in  the  chair,  becoming  suddenly  cognizant  of 
his  presence,  addressed  him  directly: 

"I  have  been  a  sinful  woman,"  she  went 
on,  in  a  hollow  voice  that  suggested  coming 
from  a  long  distance;  "and  in  my  old  age 
those  sins  are  rising  up  before  me  in  all  their 
hideousness.  The  awful  searchlight  of  your 
Faith,  Mr.  Fox,  has  been  turned  upon  the 
dark  places  of  my  soul.  And,  let  the  modern 
world  gloss  over  ill-doing  as  it  may,  sin,  by 
whatever  name  it  is  called,  is  hideous,  and 
retribution  even  in  this  life  is  almost  a 
certainty. ' ' 

Here  was  a  complete  reversal  of  all  the 
young  man's  preconceived  notions.  For  the 
first  time  he  felt  as  if  he  would  fain  have  given 
up  this  case,  which  seemed  to  offer  scope  for 
the  wider  experience  and  broader  judgment 


58  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

of  an  old  practitioner.  But  the  protesting 
words  died  upon  his  lips,  and  he  waited,  while 
Mrs.  Wilson  proceeded: 

"A  wilful  girl,  brought  up  in  wealth  and 
luxury,  accustomed  to  have  every  whim  con- 
sidered, I  had  little  or  no  perception  of  moral 
difficulties  nor  of  religious  truth.  Life  to  me 
meant  the  utmost  limit  of  pleasure,  self- 
indulgence,  vanity.  As  I  grew  older  I  de- 
veloped an  almost  inordinate  ambition,  with 
an  ever-increasing  attachment  to  the  wealth 
which  could  gratify  that  ambition.  I  am 
not,  however,  going  to  trouble  you  with  a 
psychological  treatise.  I  came  into  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Spooner  estate,  which  included 
this  dwelling  and  the  ground  upon  which  it 
stands.  The  title  to  that  property  was  not 
free  and  unencumbered:  there  was  a  lien 
thereupon,  and  there  had  already  been  litiga- 
tion upon  the  subject.  The  other  claimant 
was  John  Vorst — " 

As  the  speaker  paused  to  take  breath  she 
cast  her  eyes  upon  the  young  lawyer,  who, 
bewildered,  stammered  out  the  only  question 
which  occurred  to  him:  * 

"Was  that  claim  a  substantial  one?" 

"Yes,  and  a  just  one,"  answered  the  old 
woman,  blurting  out  the  truth  with  defiant 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  59 

emphasis.  "It  had  been  handed  down  to 
him  from  his  father,  who  had  been  the  original 
owner  of  these  premises.  There  had  been  an 
informality  on  some  of  the  transfers.  (I  can 
not  explain  matters  in  correct  legal  phrase- 
ology, despite  my  close  connection  with  the 
law.)  The  claim  which  John  Vorst  might 
have  made  good  was  invalidated  by  the  dis- 
appearance of  some  document  which  had  not 
been  registered.  (If  I  am  not  stating  the 
case  properly,  pray  arrange  it  correctly  in 
your  legal  mind.)  At  any  rate,  the  claimant 
was  put  into  my  power.  I  was  not  going 
to  permit  this  beautiful  estate  to  be  divided, 
much  less  to  give  up  my  interest  in  this  house 
and  land.  I  had  some  visitings  of  conscience 
at  first,  and  wrestled  with  myself;  but  there 
was  no  tribunal  to  which  I  could  bring  moral 
difficulties,  no  visible  authority  to  which  I 
was,  as  it  were,  responsible;  and  so  I  easily 
persuaded  myself  that  I  was  in  the  right,  and 
that  the  claimant  was  obliged  to  abide  by 
the  decision  of  the  courts.  O  Mr.  Fox,  you 
do  not  know  yet,  but  you  will  realize  some- 
time, that  legal  decisions  do  not  always  co- 
incide with  the  rulings  of  conscience!  The  case 
went  from  one  court  to  another;  it  made 
the  circuit,  in  fact.  Years  elapsed  and  many 


60  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

startling  changes  took  place;  but  the  litigation 
was  from  time  to  time  renewed,  until  finally 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  of  New  York 
decided  in  my  favor.  From  that  there  was 
no  appeal,  and  John  Vorst  was  a  ruined  man." 

Phileas  covered  his  face  with  his  hand,  as 
if  he  had  received  a  blow.  That  clear,  cold- 
blooded and  almost  cynical  avowal  of  wrong- 
doing, realized  and  persisted  in  for  a  term  of 
years,  filled  him  with  a  sickening  horror. 
But  the  old  woman  continued  to  speak  with 
a  voice  as  inexorable  as  fate. 

"I  am  making  no  excuses  for  myself,"  she 
said.  "I  am  anxious  that  you  should  under- 
stand my  full  iniquity.  By  the  time  that 
final  decision  was  reached,  I  would  have 
stopped  at  nothing;  1  would  have  done  any- 
thing to  prevent  John  Vorst  from  making 
good  his  claim." 

In  his  uneventful  and  carefully  sheltered 
life,  and  judging  from  the  woman  he  had 
known — his  mother,  who  had  died  when  he 
was  about  entering  college;  his  sisters,  both 
of  whom  had  become  nuns, — Phileas  felt  as 
if  the  sex,  by  a  broad,  general  rule,  at  least 
in  the  upper  and  more  exclusive  classes,  was 
irreproachble  in  its  conduct,  or  that  frivolity 
was  its  most  grievous  offence.  If  evil  were 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  61 

done  by  woman,  it  was  in  the  lower  strata 
of  society,  where  circumstances  offered  many 
an  excuse.  But  here  was  this  woman,  who 
from  childhood  had  moved  in  an  atmosphere 
of  ultra-refinement,  surrounded  on  every  side 
by  those  conventionalities  which  offered  to 
Phileas'  inexperience  a  certain  safeguard 
against  evil,  admitting  herself  guilty  of  deeds 
that  were  far  removed  indeed  from  the  gentler, 
the  more  feminine  emotions.  With  the  hasty 
judgment  of  youth,  he  failed  even  to  guess  what 
that  confession  cost  a  proud  and  self-centred 
woman,  who  accepted  it  heroically  as  part  of 
her  expiation. 

At  the  point  when  his  horror  of  her  offence 
was  turning  to  a  veritable  repulsion  toward 
one  who  could  so  calmly  declare  her  iniquity, 
the  culprit  suddenly  broke  down.  Extending 
toward  him  two  withered,  imploring  hands, 
and  regarding  him  with  eyes  whence  the 
slow  tears  of  age  were  falling,  she  cried: 

"Don't  turn  away  from  me!  Don't  refuse 
to  take  my  case  when  I  have  opened  my 
heart  to  you  and  made  this  full  confession!" 

Her  voice  broke,  and  her  tears  began  to 
fall  pitifully  upon  the  wrinkled  hands,  and 
touched  Phileas  to  the  quick.  He  suddenly* 
realized  that  she  was  old  and  in  deep  affliction. 


62  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

"Do  not  be  afraid,  Mrs.  Wilson,"  he  said. 
"I  shall  do  whatever  I  can  for  you—  '  He 
stopped  abruptly;  then  added  hastily,  though 
with  a  voice  and  manner  as  gentle  as  he  could 
make  them:  "But  always  on  condition  of 
course,  that  it  be  in  the  direction  of  the 
right,— as  Father  Van  Buren  would  advise, 
for  instance.  For  no  money  on  earth  would 
induce  me  to  assist  in  perpetuating  a  wrong." 

Mrs.   Wilson  nodded  approvingly. 

"That  is  what  I  want  above  all  things," 
she  murmured, — "an  honest  man."  But  her 
voice  sounded  faint  and  low,  and  when  next 
she  spoke  it  was  to  say  imploringly:  "And 
now  go, — go  at  once,  I  beseech  you.  There 
is  very  much  more  that  I  have  to  tell  you, 
but  I  am  weary.  I  am  getting  very  old,  Mr. 
Fox,  and  I  can  do  no  more  at  present." 

Pitifully  old,  helpless  and  weary  she  looked. 
The  fire  had  died  out  from  behind  her  eyes, 
and  the  temporary  energy  from  her  frame. 

Phileas  rose  at  once,  with  a  marked  feeling 
of  relief.  He  had  found  this  first  interview 
with  his  client  most  trying.  He  fancied  that 
it  must  have  planted  gray  hairs  in  his  head 
and  laid  a  heavy  burden  upon  his  shoulders. 

"I  will  send  for  you  again,"  said  Mrs. 
Wilson,  "as  soon  as  I  am  equal  to  renewing 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  63 

the  subject.  The  sooner  the  better,  too;  for 
I  feel,  my  dear  young  sir,  that  my  days  are 
nearly  numbered,  and  so  much  has  to  be 
done!" 

As  she  stretched  out  her  hand  in  farewell, 
the  young  man  took  it  respectfully,  and  the 
eyes  that  looked  out  from  the  old  woman's 
skeleton-like  face  peered  almost  wistfully  into 
his  own. 

"Good-night,  Mr.  Fox!"  she  said.  "And 
may  God  keep  you  through  the  maelstrom 
into  which  you  have  plunged!  For  you  little 
realize  as  yet  of  what  value  to  the  world  is 
every  good  man." 

As  Phileas  passed  out  through  the  hall,  he 
was  met  and  escorted  toward  the  door  by 
Cadwallader,  who  made  some  trifling  allusion 
to  the  beauty  of  the  night.  A  parrot,  in  some 
invisible  coigne  of  vantage,  no  doubt  roused 
from  its  sleep  by  the  sound  of  footsteps  and 
voices,  startled  him  by  its  hoarse  croaking 
and  the  distinct  articulation  of  the  name, 
"John  Vorst!  John  Vorst!"  And  upon  that 
name  the  bird  rang  the  changes, — now  loud 
and  deep,  now  shrill  and  high,  playing  upon 
every  note  of  the  gamut.  The  sound  was 
weird,  and,  to  Phileas'  excited  mind,  ghastly 
in  the  extreme. 


64  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

"That  bird,  sah,"  remarked  the  old  Negro, 
rolling  his  eyes  upward  to  some  point  upon 
the  stairs,  where  the  parrot's  cage  was  prob- 
ably hung, — "he  has  the  most  earsplitting 
voice,  and  you  can't  by  no  means  persuade 
him  to  discontinue." 

"Not  even  at  night?" 

"Night  or  day  is  the  same  to  him," 
answered  the  Negro.  "If  he  wants  to  talk, 
sah,  he  just  goes  right  straight  along." 

"He  must  be  a  very  unpleasant  customer," 
commented  Phileas  as  he  passed  out  onto 
the  steps. 

"Mighty  unpleasant,  sah,"  assented  the 
Negro.  "But,  then,  you  see,  he  and  me  are 
the  only  two  that  was  young  when  ole  Missis 
was,  and  she  won't  part  with  neither  of  us." 

Phileas  smiled  at  the  quaint  conceit,  which 
was  pathetic  too,  he  thought.  But  he  breathed 
more  freely  when,  bidding  the  aged  servitor 
a  cordial  good-night,  he  went  down  the  steps 
and  out  into  the  cool  evening  air.  He  felt 
as  if  he  must  shake  himself  to  get  rid  of  an 
intolerable  impression,  as  one  might  strive  to 
shake  off  a  nightmare.  The  smooth  grass  of 
the  velvety  lawn  seemed  to  have  lost  some- 
thing of  its  vernal  beauty,  and  the  tall  trees, 
a  portion  of  their  ancestral  majesty,  since 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  65 

wrong,  even  crime,  had  flourished  beneath 
their  shelter,  and  the  very  ground  whence 
they  took  their  roots  had  been  fraudulently 
withheld  from  its  rightful  owner.  The  iron 
railings  and  the  massive  gates  suggested  the 
same  unpalatable  truth,  and  were  somehow 
symbolical  of  the  unbending  will  that  for 
more  than  one  generation  had  maintained 
an  unjust  claim. 

When  Phileas  had  passed  through  the  iron 
gate,  and,  turning  up  Rutgers  Street,  left 
that  theatre  of  singular  events  behind  him, 
he  began  to  whistle,  striving  hard  to  be  once 
more  the  blithe  and  merry-hearted  college 
graduate  who  had  passed  within  those  portals. 
But  in  that  effort  he  was  only  partially 
successful. 


VI. 

ON  arriving  at  his  office  next  day, 
Phileas  felt  as  if  he  had  grown  older, 
graver,  and  more  fully  impressed  with 
the  responsibilities  of  the  profession  he  had 
adopted,  and  especially  those  connected  with 
that  particular  case  which  had  fallen  to  his 
lot,  than  he  could  have  believed  possible. 
It  is  true  the  office  chairs  were  still  frequently 
vacant,  the  pigeonholes  still  empty;  but  his 
feet,  as  he  felt,  had  been  planted  upon  that 
ladder  which  he  fondly  hoped  to  ascend. 

With  an  altogether  different  set  of  im- 
pressions, he  took  down  the  folio  that  had 
introduced  him,  as  it  were,  to  his  client,  and 
threw  himself  into  a  consideration  of  such 
phases  in  the  famous  litigation  as  were  con- 
tained in  that  volume.  He  regretted  that  he 
had  not  at  hand  the  succeeding  volume,  which 
should  initiate  him  into  the  later  details  of 
that  interesting  contest.  As  he  read  the 
account  of  each  separate  trial,  the  decisions 
given  therein  appeared  to  him  iniquitous  in 
the  light  of  those  admissions  made  to  him  by 
the  plaintiff.  Yet  the  evidence  apparently  had 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  67 

been  carefully  sifted,  and  the  claim  of  John 
Vorst  proved  wholly  untenable.  So  much, 
thought  Phileas,  for  the  limitations  of  human 
wisdom. 

As  he  was  absorbed  in  this  captivating 
subject,  there  was  a  hasty  knock  at  the  door, 
and  in  flew  a  young  man  from  one  of  the 
adjoining  offices. 

"I'm  from  'Place  &  Atwater'!"  he  exclaimed, 
in  that  breathless  manner  wherewith  business 
in  New  York  is  frequently  transacted.  "Our 
Mr.  Place  is  away,  and  we  want  you  to  draw 
up  a  lease  of  the  premises  here  described, 
binding  on  both  parties  for  five  years.  Make 
it  as  ironbound  as  you  can.  We've  got  a 
slippery  customer  to  deal  with." 

Phileas  took  up  a  printed  form,  which 
he  was  prepared  to  fill  up  according  to  the 
instructions  of  the  young  man,  who  sat  upon 
the  rail  of  the  chair,  as  if  poised  for  instant 
flight. 

"You  want  to  make  it  ironbound  for  the 
tenant?"  Phileas  asked,  pausing  with  pen 
upraised. 

The  young  man  nodded  assent. 

"What  about  the  other  party?"  asked  the 
lawyer. 

The  smart  young  clerk  grinned.    "Jolly  well 


68  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

able  to  take  care  of  himself;     but,   you  see, 
he's  our  customer." 

"The  name?" 

"Thomas  Grant,  acting  for  the  Goodyear 
estate.  He's  a  hard  fellow  to  do  business 
with.  But  the  tenant  has  a  poor  record." 

"In  what  way?" 

"In  the  matter  of  payment.  She's  a  widow 
who  keeps  lodgers." 

"Name?"  inquired  Phileas,  laconically.  Each 
day  was  giving  him  a  deeper  insight  into  the 
mysteries  of  a  great  city,  the  petty  and  never- 
ending  struggles,  the  continual  grind,  the 
meannesses,  and  most  frequently  the  utterly 
unsympathetic  attitude  of  one  class  toward 
another. 

"Name!"      said    the    clerk.      "Why,    it's 
O'Rourke, — Mrs.  Susan  O'Rourke." 

Phileas  wrote  away  busily  for  a  few 
moments,  while  the  clerk  amused  himself  by 
whistling  a  lively  air,  and  kicking  his  heels 
together,  both  of  which  occupations  jarred 
upon  the  lawyer;  but  he  could  not  very  well 
offer  a  protest,  since  it  was  of  the  last  impor- 
tance to  keep  upon  good  terms  with  all  the 
adjoining  firms  and  their  employees. 

After  the  clerk  had  snatched  up  the  paper 
and  departed,  as  if  the  fate  of  the  nation 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  69 

depended  upon  the  celerity  with  which  he 
could  get  through  the  door,  Phileas  laid  down 
the  pen  with  a  sigh.  Somehow,  his  latest 
task  had  not  been  to  his  taste.  He  presently 
reproached  himself,  however,  for  not  accepting 
more  cheerfully  these  minor  vexations  of  bis 
office;  and  contrived  to  bustle  through  the 
day,  which  was  tolerably  well  filled  by  a  rush 
of  small  affairs.  Some  of  these  were  with 
college  friends,  or  clients,  sent  to  him  by  his 
old  professors,  all  of  whom  took  a  kindly 
and  serviceable  interest  in  his  welfare.  In 
fact,  for  many  a  day  to  come-  Phileas  Fox 
was  kept  more  busy  than  his  depressing  first 
experience  had  led  him  to  expect.  And  some 
of  the  clients  who  presented  themselves  were 
of  so  singular  a  character  that  he  often  thought 
a  volume  could  be  written  upon  their 
peculiarities. 

Thus,  for  example,  one  morning  early  he 
was  waited  upon  by  a  handsome  and  showily 
dressed  woman,  who  came  to  consult  him  as 
to  the  best  means  of  obtaining  a  divorce; 
and  a  bank  president,  on  the  eve  of  becoming 
a  defaulter,  crept  in  surreptitiously,  to  discover 
if  there  were  any  means  of  evading  the 
banking  laws,  and  how  far  he  was  safe  in 
deluding  those  who  had  intrusted  him  with 


7o  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

their  money.  The  banker,  despite  his  anxi- 
eties, took  a  jocose  view  of  the  situation,  with 
many  a  humorous  glance  and  innuendo;  and 
he  plainly  declared  in  his  genial  way  that  he 
had  been  attracted  by  the  name  of  Fox  on 
the  door.  He  even  considered  it  an  excellent 
joke  to  insist  that  the  young  practitioner 
had  adopted  the  name  for  business  purposes. 
Phileas  had  considerable  difficulty  in  disabus- 
ing his  visitor's  mind  of  this  and  various 
other  errors,  one  of  them  being  that  he 
intended  to  conduct  his  law  practice  on  foxy 
principles. 

The  young  man  felt  more  than  once,  during 
the  interview,  a  strong  inclination  to  apply 
the  same  species  of  argument  that  he  had 
employed  toward  his  first  client.  But  he  was 
deterred  by  two  considerations,  one  of  which 
was  the  gray  hairs  of  his  would-be  client;  and 
the  other,  the  wisdom  that  he  had  already 
acquired,  and  which  taught  him  that  even 
into  the  most  respectable  offices  in  a  great 
city  may  come  the  most  unsavory  clients; 
that  his  only  course  was  to  receive  the  bad 
with  the  good;  and,  while  rejecting  those 
that  his  conscience  disapproved,  to  greet  all 
with  outward  civility. 

Of    course    it    was    natural    that    whenever 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  71 

his  thoughts  were  at  leisure  they  travelled 
back  to  that  central  point  upon  which  all 
his  future  hopes  rested.  He  continued,  in 
fact,  to  revolve  over  in  his  mind  that  case 
which  promised  to  be  not  only  lucrative  but 
advantageous  in  many  ways.  As  he  thought 
over  the  various  details  of  the  contest  in  the 
light  of  the  additional  particulars  he  had 
obtained  from  Mrs.  Wilson,  and  recalled  the 
circumstances  of  his  first  visit  to  the  mansion 
in  Monroe  Street,  there  appeared  to  be  but 
one  spot  of  brightness  in  all  that  gloom.  This 
was  the  voice  which  he  had  heard — high, 
clear  and  conspicuously  youthful, — and  which 
recurred  to  him  now  pleasantly,  though  the 
words  spoken  by  that  voice  had  rankled  deep 
at  the  time.  "Mr.  Phileas  Fox.  What  an 
ominous  name  for  a  lawyer!"  The  very  tinge 
of  resentment  that  still  lingered  against  the 
speaker  added  to  the  young  man's  interest 
in  that  mysterious  personality,  which  had 
seemed  so  much  at  variance  with  everything 
and  everybody  connected  with  that  antique 
dwelling. 

He  was  pondering  one  day  upon  this  enigma, 
as  to  whom  the  girl  was  and  what  she  was 
doing  there,  while  he  sat  smoking  during  the 
noon  recess,  after  having  taken  his  luncheon 


72  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

in  an  eating-house  near  at  hand.  He  always 
smoked  as  near  as  possible  to  the  window, 
that  the  odor  of  tobacco  might  not  infect  the 
atmosphere.  For  Phileas  was  old-fashioi?ed, 
in  that  respect  at  least;  and,  though  he  had 
as  yet  but  few  feminine  clients,  there  was 
always  the  possibility  that  some  might  invade 
those  precincts,  and  he  did  not  wish  that 
they  should  be  offended  by  the  smell  of  his 
favorite  weed. 

He  sat,  therefore,  upon  the  broad  window- 
sill,  enjoying  his  cigar,  while  watching  the  men 
rushing  by,  microscopically,  in  the  streets 
below,  and  musing  upon  this  theme.  He  was 
startled  by  the  jangle  of  the  telephone  bell 
striking  sharply  upon  his  ear.  He  jumped 
down  from  his  elevated  position,  and,  laying 
aside  his  unfinished  cigar,  rushed  toward  the 
still  vibrating  instrument. 

"Halloa!"  he  called  out;  and  again 
"Halloa!" 

There  was  an  instant's  pause,  and  then 
a  voice — the  voice  upon  which  he  had  been 
puzzling  for  the  last  four  or  five  days — spoke 
softly  and  distinctly: 

"Is  that  Mr.   Fox's  office?" 

"Yes,"  answered  that  gentleman. 

"Can  I  speak  to  Mr.  Fox?" 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  73 

"He   is   speaking." 

"Mr.    Phileas   Fox?"    repeated   the    voice. 

"Yes,   Mr.   Phileas  Fox  is  speaking." 

"Are  you  quite  alone?" 

"Yes,"  Phileas  answered. 

"I  ask  that,"  continued  the  voice,  "because 
Mrs.  Wilson,  for  whom  I  am  speaking, 
requested  you  to  be  careful  in  your  replies, 
should  any  one  else  be  in  the  office." 

"There   is  no   one  here,"   declared   Phileas. 

"Then  there  is,  of  course,  no  need  for 
caution.  Can  you  conveniently  come  to  the 
same  address  as  upon  a  former  occasion — 
corner  of  Monroe  and  Rutgers  Streets — this 
evening  at  half -past  eight?" 

"I  think  so,"  answered  Phileas, — "in  fact, 
I  am  quite  sure."  And  he  repeated  the  name 
and  address,  to  make  certain  that  there  was 
no  mistake. 

"You  are  quite  sure  that  it  will  not  put 
you  out  to  come  after  office  hours?" 

"I  shall  be  very  glad  to  do  so,"  said 
Phileas,  quite  truthfully;  for  he  had  a  keen 
curiosity  to  hear  the  remainder  of  the  old 
woman's  story,  and  to  proceed  as  speedily 
as  possible  with  the  latest  version  of  the  case 
of  Spooner  vs.  Vorst. 

"Thanks!"    said    the    voice,    with    a    softly 


74  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

lingering  intonation,  that  added  another 
motive  to  those  already  impelling  Phileas 
Fox  toward  the  much  disputed  mansion. 

The  young  man  felt  quite  sorry  when,  after 
that  final  monosyllable,  the  pleasant  and  well- 
modulated  voice  ceased  to  speak  and  the 
connection  was  shut  off.  The  little  conver- 
sation had  been  an  agreeable  break  in  the 
tedious  round  of  office  duties. 

He  sat  down  and  resumed  his  interrupted 
smoke  and  the  musings,  which  now  took  a  more 
definite  form.  He  wondered  if  the  girl  could 
be  a  daughter  of  the  house,  or  if  she  bore 
some  other  relation  to  the  formidable  Martha 
Spooner.  In  his  thoughts,  Phileas  thereafter 
rejected  that  meaningless  addition  to  the  name 
of  Mrs.  Wilson.  To  him,  the  imperious  lady 
of  the  library  and  the  chair  must  be  ever 
that  celebrated  legal  entity  that  had  kept 
professional  circles  agog  for  half  a  century. 

Perhaps  it  was  the  new  interest  awakened 
by  the  voice,  and  the  possibility  of  seeing 
its  owner,  that  caused  the  young  man  to  give 
an  unusual  attention  to  his  toilet  that  evening. 
He  tried  and  discarded  a  second  and  a  third 
waistcoat  before  he  found  one  to  his  taste; 
and  with  the  choice  of  his  ties  he  was  equally 
fastidious.  He  brushed  and  brushed  at  his 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  75 

hair,  that  even  a  plentiful  application  of  a 
hair-darkening  preparation  failed  to  obscure. 
There  it  was  red, — unmistakably  red!  And 
how  ridiculously  well  it  coincided  with  his 
cognomen!  There  was  nothing  to  be  done, 
however;  and  Phileas  strove  to  counteract 
those  damaging  circumstances  by  a  spick-and- 
span  costume  of  the  very  latest  fashion,  for 
which  he  had  to  pay  his  tailor  by  instalments. 
Even  the  tan  shoes  and  socks  formed  a 
harmony  with  his  brown  clothing. 

So  arrayed,  he  set  forth  for  that  dwelling 
which,  more  than  any  other  in  the  whole  vast 
metropolis,  engaged  the  lawyer's  attention  and 
fired  his  imagination.  All  the  others  seemed  by 
comparison  dull  and  commonplace.  He  was 
admitted  by  the  selfsame  Negro,  with  a  re- 
spectful cordiality,  mingled  by  this  time  with 
a  tinge  of  familiarity,  as  proper  toward  one 
who  had  the  confidence  of  "ole  Missis."  He 
was  ushered  into  the  same  room  as  before, 
where  Cadwallader  proceeded  to  light  some 
of  the  wax  tapers  in  the  crystal  chandeliers, 
with  a  long  lighter,  resembling  that  used  in 
churches. 

"Ole  Missis  she  always  prefers  to  light  her 
apartments,  sah,  with  tapers.  She  believes 


76  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

that  they  are  less  injurious  to  the  optic  nerve 
than  other  lights." 

"They  are  certainly  more  restful  to  the 
eye,"  agreed  Phileas,  who  had  no  mind  to 
combat  the  prejudices  of  the  mistress  of  the 
house,  at  least  in  indifferent  matters. 

"Yes,  sah, — yes,  Mr.  Fox,"  assented  the 
Negro,  "that's  a  mighty  true  remark.  Wax 
lights  are  restful,  and  I  apprehend  that  the 
use  of  eyeglasses  would  not  be  so  common  if 
no  other  lights  were  employed." 

Phileas  could  not  help  smiling,  both  at  the 
pompous  diction  of  this  relic  of  a  more 
tranquil  era,  and  at  the  idea  of  Greater  New 
York  lighted  by  wax  lights.  His  amusement, 
however,  was  concealed  from  Cadwallader,  who 
moved  about  the  room,  arranging  the  chairs, 
drawing  the  curtains,  and  evidently  in  no 
hurry  to  shorten  this  brief  interview,  that 
gave  him  a  glimpse,  as  it  were,  of  the  outer 
world.  When  he  had  at  last  gone  to  summon 
his  "ole  Missis"  to  the  library,  Phileas  could 
hear  through  the  half-closed  door,  not  that 
silvery  voice  which  he  had  heard  upon  a 
former  occasion,  but  the  hoarse  croak  of  the 
parrot,  muttering  over  to  itself  certain  phrases 
wherein,  it  seemed  to  the  listener,  the  name 
of  John  Vorst  was  conspicuous.  It  worked 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  77 

itself  into  a  mimic  rage  in  its  effort  to  pro- 
nounce its  words  distinctly,  or  to  reproduce 
some  sound  of  anger  or  of  strife  that  the  bird 
had  at  one  time  or  another  heard. 

While  Phileas  waited,  he  was  conscious  of 
a  new  expectancy,  in  the  glances  which  he 
cast  toward  the  door.  But  when  it  opened, 
Cadwallader,  as  before,  led  in  his  mistress 
and  placed  her  in  the  armchair,  leaving  her 
cane  and  a  silver  gong  within  reach. 

"I  may  want  you,"  said  the  old  lady, 
laconically;  "if  so  I  shall  ring." 

The  lawyer,  with  a  perceptible  feeling  of 
disappointment,  saw  the  door  close  upon  the 
Negro.  It  was  evident  that  no  one  else  was 
to  be  present  at  that  interview.  With  a 
formal  bow,  he  seated  himself  upon  the  opposite 
side  of  the  table,  as  he  had  done  before;  and 
found  himself  confronted  by  the  piercing  eyes, 
protruding  chin,  and  skeleton-like  visage  of 
Martha  Spooner  Wilson. 

That  lady,  being  settled  according  to  her 
pleasure,  leaned  back  in  her  chair  and  regarded 
the  young  lawyer  with  her  uncomfortably 
penetrating  glance. 

"So  I  have  troubled  you  again  to  come 
here,"  she  said;  "and  I  warn  you  that  this 
will  be  by  no  means  the  last  of  such  visits ;  for 


78  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

it  must  be  quite  evident  that  I  am  in  no 
condition  to  call  upon  you  in  one  of  those 
phenomenally  tall  buildings  which  I  am  told 
are  the  order  of  the  day." 

"I  should  never  have  thought  of  such  a 
thing!"  cried  Phileas,  hastily.  "I  am  at 
your  service  whenever  you  may  require  my 
attendance." 

The  old  lady  nodded,  in  acknowledgment 
of  his  readiness  to  oblige;  but  she  had  never 
been  conspicuous  for  her  observance  of  the 
smaller  amenities,  and  so  declared  without 
further  preface: 

"We  may  as  well  proceed  at  once  to  busi- 
ness, Mr.  Fox.  A  prostration,  following  upon 
our  interview  of  last  week,  has  lost  me  three 
days, — a  no  inconsiderable  loss  at  my  age." 

She  stopped,  as  was  her  wont,  for  n 
breathing  space,  rather  than  as  if  expecting  a 
response  from  her  listener,  and  he  made  none. 

"I  think,"  she  continued,  "that  at  our 
last  meeting  I  made  it  clear  to  you  that  I, 
Martha  Spooner,  was  the  plaintiff  in  a  suit, 
or  series  of  suits,  against  John  Vorst,  wherein 
I  was  in  several  instances  successful.  The 
man's  claim  was  invalidated  chiefly  by  the 
non-appearance  of  a  document,  without  which 
his  claim  was  untenable." 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  79 

' '  It  must  have  been  a  document  of  con- 
siderable value,"  observed  Phileas,  who,  his 
lawyer -like  instincts  being  now  thoroughly 
aroused,  was  following  every  word  with  the 
keenest  attention. 

"It  was,"  said  Mrs.  Wilson,  composedly, 
"no  other  than  his  father's  will,  wherein  his 
claim  was  clearly  set  forth — so  he  said, — he 
being  the  sole  legatee.  In  default  of  that 
will,  together  with  those  informalities  pre- 
viously mentioned,  I  and  some  others  were 
to  receive,  by  the  terms  of  a  former  will,  a 
share  in  the  estate;  and  mine  included  the 
possession  of  this  house,  through  circumstances 
which  I  shall  hereafter  explain." 

"But,"  inquired  Phileas,  "was  the  defendant 
absolutely  certain  that  this  later  will  was 
really  in  existence?" 

"Yes,"  answered  Mrs.  Wilson,  with  great 
composure,  "he  was  absolutely  certain;  and 
so,  in  point  of  fact,  was  I." 

The  old  woman  broke  off  with  a  mirthless 
laugh,  wherein  there  was  something  hard  and 
defiant;  and  such  seemed  to  be  her  predomi- 
nant mood  on  this  occasion. 

"My  dear  Mr.  Fox,"  she  said,  "you  must 
really  try  to  conceal  your  feelings.  It  will 
never  do,  in  your  profession,  to  make  your 


go  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

face  the  mirror  of  your  thoughts.  You  may 
well  be  shocked,  however.  I  was,  as  I  have 
said,  quite  sure  that  the  later  will  of  Mr. 
Vorst's  father  was  in  existence;  for  I  had 
seen  it  myself.  I  therefore  acted  as  I  did 
with  full  knowledge;  and,  affecting  to  dis- 
believe that  such  a  document  was  ever  in 
existence,  I  profited  doubly  by  its  loss." 

Phileas,  embarrassed  by  her  reference  to 
those  feelings  of  amazement  and  almost  of 
repulsion  which  really  disturbed  him  and  were 
all  too  vividly  reflected  upon  his  face,  found 
no  word  to  say,  even  when  Mrs.  Wilson,  after 
that  confession,  remained  silent  a  moment  as 
if  expecting  a  reply.  The  young  lawyer,  by 
an  effort,  roused  himself  to  ask  a  question: 

"Had  the  defendant  any  idea  of  how  that 
paper  had  disappeared?" 

Mrs.  Wilson  looked  at  the  questioner  a 
moment  before  she  responded. 

"I  did  not  make  away  with  the  document, 
if  that  is  what  you  mean,"  she  said  emphat- 
ica  ly.  "Of  that  sin,  at  least,  I  am  guiltless. 
Nor  had  I,  then  or  afterward,  any  more 
knowledge  as  to  the  cause  of  its  disappearance 
than  John  Vorst  himself." 

"Such  an  idea  never  occurred  to  me,"  said 
Phileas,  gravely. 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  81 

Mrs.  Wilson  laughed  lightly. 

"Not  even  after  what  you  have  heard?" 
she  said,  in  an  ironical  tone.  "If  that  is  the 
case,  may  I  congratulate  you  on  having  pre- 
served a  faith  in  human  nature  which  is 
absolutely  refreshing  ? ' ' 

To  a  young  and  unspoiled  disposition,  there 
are  few  things  more  repulsive  than  cynicism. 
It  feels  the  sting  without  being  able  to 
fathom  the  sorrow  or  the  carking  care  or  the 
remorse  which  has  produced  the  bitterness. 
Phileas  felt  his  whole  being  in  revolt  against 
this  woman  and  her  misdeeds,  which  she  so 
shamelessly,  as  he  thought,  declared;  and 
his  sympathy  forcibly  gravitated  toward  that 
"party  of  the  first  part,"  whom  he  had  at 
first  so  unsparingly  condemned.  But  the 
rasping  voice  of  Mrs.  Wilson  broke  in  upon 
his  reflections: 

"Do  you  feel  equal,  Mr.  Fox,  to  hearing  the 
further  confession  of  a  woman  who  has  been 
so  unfortunate  as  to  create  an  unfavorable 
impression  in  your  mind?" 

"I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  whatever  may 
throw  any  light  upon  an  intricate  case,"  said 
Phileas,  somewhat  stiffly;  for  her  sarcasm, 
directed  against  himself,  seemed  to  him  both 
uncalled  for  and  unjust. 


82  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

Mrs.  Wilson,  slightly  changing  her  attitude, 
so  that  she  did  not  so  fully  face  her  legal 
adviser,  collected  her  thoughts  for  an  instant 
and  began  her  narrative. 


VII. 

SINGULAR  indeed  was  the  narrative  to 
which  the  young  lawyer  was  called 
upon  to  listen,  though  its  leading  fea- 
tures were  of  all  too  frequent  occurrence  in 
the  whirl  of  large  cities.  It  seemed  a  strange 
thing  for  Phileas  to  be  sitting  there  as  the 
confidential  adviser  of  a  great  lady  who  had 
been  conspicuous  in  the  world  before  the 
young  man  had  been  born,  and  everything 
about  whom,  from  the  leaf  on  her  flowered 
brocade  to  the  gold  eyeglasses  which  hung 
from  her  neck,  and  through  which  she  occa- 
sionally looked  at  him,  was  outwardly  worthy 
of  respect.  But  inwardly  his  sturdy  manhood 
abhorred  those  misdeeds  to  which  she  had 
confessed,  and  his  Catholic  principles  revolted 
from  a  course  of  action  that  was  so  flagrantly 
dishonest  and  so  injurious  to  another. 

"From  the  time  of  which  I  speak,"  went  on 
Mrs.  Wilson,  in  that  same  high-pitched  voice 
that  was  altogether  refined,  though  grating 
upon  the  ear,  "I  lived  in  a  very  whirl  of 
gayety.  I  entertained  lavishly,  gathering  into 
my  house  all  whom  I  considered  as  best, 


84  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

socially  or  intellectually.  My  name,  in  so 
far  as  I  permitted  its  use,  figured  in  fashion- 
able assemblies  of  all  sorts,  and  even  in 
philanthropic  schemes.  I  married  Mr.  James 
Van  Vechten  Wilson,  of  whom  you  may 
have  heard — or  perhaps  it  was  before  your 
generation — as  a  yachtsman  with  horses  upon 
the  turf.  He  was  very  fond  of  amusement; 
being,  in  fact,  what  you  of  the  present  day 
would  probably  describe  as  'an  all  round 
sport. ' ' 

Despite  the  gravity  of  the  situation,  Phileas 
put  up  his  hand  to  conceal  a  smile,  so  oddly 
did  the  familiar  expression  sound  upon  the 
lips  of  that  stately  relic  of  a  bygone  genera- 
tion. Mrs.  Wilson  was  far  too  much  occupied 
with  the  picture  she  was  painting  on  the 
dark  background  of  her  past  to  observe  the 
movement. 

"Our  life  together,"  she  continued,  "was 
not  long.  Severely  injured  in  the  hunting 
field,  he  lingered  for  a  few  months;  and 
during  that  period  the  spectre  of  conscience 
that  had  pursued  me  through  all  my  frivolities 
awoke  to  life.  As  I  am  laying  bare  to  you, 
for  your  full  enlightenment,  my  psychological 
history,  I  will  say  that  I  made  some  attempt 
at  expiation;  but  that  spectre  of  conscience 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  85 

has  never  since  been  laid.  And,  Mr.  Fox, 
I  may  add  en  passant  that  it  had  its  root  in 
a  year  which  I  spent  at  a  French  convent 
long  ago. 

"That  episode  in  my  life,  however,  was 
soon  over  and  done  with.  I  wore  mourning 
for  the  conventional  period.  I  had  lost  some 
of  my  best  friends  by  a  course  of  action 
which  was  not  viewed  so  indulgently  then 
as  now;  for  I  was  a  divorced  woman  when 
I  married  Mr.  Wilson.  In  the  New  York  of 
my  young  days,  a  divorcee,  no  matter  what 
her  connections  or  prestige,  was  not  altogether 
eligible  for  the  most  exclusive  and  conserva- 
tive element  of  society.  Still,  I  contrived  to 
find  here  and  abroad  sufficient  to  keep  me  in 
a  giddy  whirl,  that  served  to  drown  recollec- 
tion, to  console  me  for  a  twofold  sorrow,  and 
the  stings  of  a  remorse,  becoming  stronger 
as  youth  was  succeeded  by  middle  age,  and 
that  again  by  the  shadows  of  old  age,  which 
I  dreaded  most  of  all.  During  this  interval, 
strange  to  relate,  I  held  on  more  tenaciously 
than  ever  to  my  ill-gotten  goods.  Needless 
to  weary  you  with  the  tale." 

The  old  woman  stopped  as  was  her  wont, 
and  put  her  hand  to  her  chest,  as  if  she  felt 


86  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

there  the   exhaustion   that  was  expressed   on 
her  face. 

"I  met  in  quite  an  accidental  way  Father 
Van  Buren,  who  impressed  upon  my  mind 
an  ideal  of  saintliness  that  I  had  never  wholly 
lost.  Of  course  the  books  I  was  reading, 
the  atmosphere  wherein  I  lived,  would  have 
caused  me  to  be  sceptical  of  the  existence 
of  real  goodness,  had  not  those  convent  mem- 
ories lain  deep  within  my  heart.  That  chance 
meeting  with  the  priest  awoke  thoughts  and 
reflections  that  caused  the  cankering  sores  of 
sorrow  and  remorse  to  reopen.  Old  age  had 
begun  to  weigh  upon  me;  I  was  compassed 
by  its  shadows  and  its  terrors.  The  stakes 
for  which  I  had  played  must  soon  be  snatched 
from  my  hands — those  hands  that  were  empty 
of  good  deed.  I  felt  that  I  was  speedily  to 
be  called  from  those  scenes,  whither  I  could 
not  guess.  Some  one  must  have  been  praying 
for  me,  Mr.  Fox;  for  each  time  that  I  en- 
countered the  Father  I  felt  those  fears,  those 
longings  for  pardon  and  peace,  stronger  within 
my  soul.  Not  that  the  priest  ever,  by  word  or 
by  sign,  broached  those  unpalatable  subjects; 
on  the  contrary,  his  conversation  was  always 
light,  cheerful,  even  amusing,  as  that  of  one 
who  is  at  peace  with  God  and  with  the  world. 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  87 

Once  or  twice,  when  meeting  him  at  the  house 
of  a  mutual  friend,  I  caught  his  eye  fixed"  on 
me  with  an  expression  of  the  purest  pity, 
and  I  could  guess  what  he  was  thinking,  even 
with  the  superficial  knowledge  he  then  had 
of  my  story." 

Phileas  listened  as  one  fascinated  while  the 
thin,  metallic  voice  recounted  this  strange 
history;  and  it  occurred  to  him  that  there 
was  more  scope  for  the  ministrations  of  Father 
Van  Buren  or  some  other  ghostly  ministrant 
than  for  his  own.  Nothing  in  his  life  at 
home  or  at  college  had  prepared  him  for  such 
an  experience  as  this.  He  felt  himself  lacking 
both  in  insight  and  in  sympathy,  and  was 
becoming  discouraged;  the  whole  current  of 
his  clear  young  mind  was  in  the  direction  of 
horror  and  repulsion. 

"A  year  ago  I  was  suddenly  stricken  by  an 
illness  that  threatened  to  terminate  fatally. 
In  the  ghastly  terror  of  that  time,  over- 
whelmed by  the  realization  of  my  sins  against 
society  and  individuals,  I  sent  for  Father 
Van  Buren.  During  the  several  visits  he  paid 
me,  he  asked  me,  I  remember,  whether  there 
was  any  special  circumstance  that  could 
account  for  my  present  state  of  mind.  I 
answered  that  in  my  far-off  convent  days 


88  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

there  had  been  a  nun  who  had  interested  me 
especially,  and  who  had  taken  a  particular 
interest  in  the  Protestant  American.  When 
I  was  leaving  she  had  called  me  to  her,  in  a 
little  room  looking  out  over  the  historic 
Invalides,  and  the  Park  that  had  been  the 
theatre  of  so  many  events.  She  had  promised 
me  then,  in  saying  farewell,  that  she  would 
pray  for  me,  and  never  cease  to  pray  until 
we  met  in  heaven.  Those  last  words  were 
vividly  impressed  upon  my  memory,  as  well 
as  the  touching  expression  with  which  she 
had  concluded:  'For  you  will  go  to  heaven, 
my  child;  will  you  not?" 

The  old  woman  paused  to  wipe  with  trem- 
ulous hand  the  perspiration  that  had  gathered 
on  her  brow. 

"I  never  got  quite  rid  of  the  impression.  It 
remained  something  tangible  and  real  behind 
all  the  froth  and  glitter  of  life, — something 
that  it  terrified  me  to  remember,  but  that, 
curiously  enough,  did  not  deter  me  from 
the  evil  things  I  have  done." 

Phileas  Fox,  feeling  hopelessly  young  and 
bewildered,  but  yet  with  a  certain  natural 
fineness  of  perception,  began  to  experience 
an  awakening  sympathy  and  the  slow  dawn  of 
comprehension.  Evil  is  so  fatally  alluring! 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  89 

And  good  hovers  often  as  a  shadowy  abstrac- 
tion, with  which  it  is  so  hard  to  grapple 
unaided  by  the  illumination  of  faith  and  its 
authoritative  sanction. 

"In  short,  Mr.  Fox,"  continued  the  old 
woman,  "I  might  sum  it  all  up  by  saying 
that  a  woman  naturally  and  by  heredity 
honest,  in  whom  honesty  was  an  atavistic 
quality,  but  without  other  guide  or  bulwark, 
found  herself  suddenly  confronted  by  a  power- 
ful temptation  to  dishonesty,  and  yielded, 
though  suffering  keenly  for  the  transgres- 
sion." 

The  speaker,  leaning  forward  upon  the  table, 
emphasized  her  words  by  a  peculiar  gesture  of 
the  head. 

"It  is,  perhaps,  more  surprising,"  she  de- 
clared, "that  I  yielded  in  another  direction,— 
I  who  had  been  brought  up  in  an  atmosphere 
of  the  most  fastidious  refinement,  and  who 
was  by  nature  conservative  to  a  degree,  and 
distant  even  to  haughtiness  in  my  deportment. 
I  permitted  my  name  to  become  for  months 
the  topic  of  every  club-house  and  drawing- 
room  in  New  York,  as  the  central  figure  in  a 
divorce  case, — I  who  had  always  held  divorce 
to  be,  from  an  ethical  point  of  view,  a  very 
real  degradation.  All  that  belongs  to  a  part  of 


90  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

my  subject  which  I  have  not  as  yet  broached, 
and  which  is  the  most  painful  of  the 
revelations  that  I  have  to  make." 

She  had  an  intuitive  perception  of  the 
distress  and  embarrassment  these  disclosures 
caused  to  the  young  and  right-minded  attor- 
ney, to  whom  criminology  in  its  various 
phases  was  as  yet  known  only  from  the 
pages  of  his  law  books.  In  some  vexation 
of  spirit,  Mrs.  Wilson  found  the  difficulties 
of  her  confession  increased  by  the  listener's 
inexperience;  and,  despite  her  faith  in  the 
good  priest,  she  muttered  to  herself: 

"Father  Van  Buren  should  not  have  sent 
me  this  boy." 

She  felt  this  at  the  moment  to  be  a  distinct 
grievance.  An  older  man  would  have  divined, 
would  have  understood.  But  when  she  let 
her  keen  gaze  rest  upon  the  frank  face,  em- 
barrassed indeed,  yet  upon  which  a  dawning 
sympathy  was  so  plainly  written,  she  realized 
that  Father  Van  Buren  had  been  right,  and 
that  in  the  manliness  and  innate  gentleness 
of  the  young  lawyer  she  was  sure  of  a  chiv- 
alrous regard  for  her  feelings,  such  as  she 
could  not  have  been  certain  of  finding  in  an 
older  practitioner. 

"Mr,  Fox,"  she  said,  "I  hope  that  in  your 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  91 

own  mind  you  do  not  condemn  me  too 
unreservedly." 

She  spoke  thus  with  eagerness,  and  a  wistful 
deprecation  of  judgment,  which  showed  that 
the  woman  was  not  all  hardened,  all  sceptical. 
After  a  moment  she  added: 

"You  who  have  lived  under  the  protecting 
shadow  of  the  Faith,  can  never  know,  can 
never  understand.  I  realize  now  that  to  be 
without  that  certain  guide  is  to  walk  blindfold 
through  a  morass,  and  it  is  only  a  wonder 
that  any  reach  the  opposite  shore  in  safety." 
•  As  she  paused  again,  Phileas  said,  and 
there  was  something  of  heartfelt  sympathy 
in  his  tone: 

"There  is  no  question  of  condemnation, 
Mrs.  Wilson.  I  am  deeply  interested  and — 
very  sorry." 

That  was  the  first  time  in  all  her  three- 
score and  ten  years  that  any  one  had  ever 
said  to  the  haughty  woman  of  fashion  that 
he  was  sorry  for  her.  She  had  heard  countless 
flattering  words, — words  of  admiration,  of  love, 
even  of  condemnation, — but  none  had  hitherto 
associated  with  her  the  idea  of  pity.  Some 
years  before,  she  would  have  rejected  the 
offering  with  indignant  scorn;  at  this  moment 
it  was  welcome  as  dew  to  a  parched  flower. 


92  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

"Yes,"  she  said,  "you  are  sorry  for  me; 
and,  though  I  do  not  deserve  it,  that  is  the 
appropriate  feeling  toward  me,  and  I  thank 
you  for  it." 

Since  Phileas  had  touched  the  right  note, 
the  old  woman  seemed  reassured;  she  pro- 
ceeded with  more  ease  and  a  less  defiant 
attitude : 

"When  I  told  Father  Van  Buren  of  that 
saintly  nun — of  whose  death  I  heard  but 
recently,  with  a  peculiar  shock,  as  of  the 
departure  of  one  with  whom  I  had  failed  to 
keep  faith, — and  when  I  represented  her  as 
the  chief  factor  for  good  in  my  life,  I  likewise 
had  to  inform  him  of  my  close  and  intimate 
relation  with  a  Catholic  of  the  fine  old  heroic 
type,  whose  example  and  whose  counsels  were 
unhappily  thrown  away  by  my  own  perversity 
and  my  own  wrongdoing." 

Pondering  as  it  were  upon  this  disclosure, 
which  she  seemed  to  utter  introspectively, 
and  as  if  addressed  to  herself  rather  than 
to  the  young  man,  Mrs.  Wilson  suddenly 
addressed  to  him  a  question: 

"Has  it  never  occurred  to  you,  Mr.  Fox,  to 
inquire  in  what  relation  to  John  Vorst  stood 
Martha  Spooner, — I  mean,  of  course,  apart 
from  that  of  plaintiff  toward  the  defendant?" 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  \  \  ;ir93 

Phileas  very  truthfully  answered  in  the 
negative;  and  Mrs.  Wilson  returned  to  her 
narrative : 

"I  married,  when  I  was  barely  eighteen, 
a  man  who  had  every  quality  to  attract  and 
to  retain  affection.  And  that  was  no  mariage 
de  convenance  on  either  side.  Young  as  I 
was,  I  loved  and  appreciated  him  as  fully  as 
my  undisciplined  nature  permitted,  and  I 
know  that  he  truly  loved  me.  I  need  not  go 
into  details,  nor  dwell  upon  the  various  cir- 
cumstances that  caused  that  brilliantly  promis- 
ing marriage  to  fail.  They  were  all  connected 
with  that  central  fact  of  which  you  have  been 
informed.  My  husband  was  a  Catholic,  and, 
as  I  learned  long  afterward,  felt  a  certain 
remorse  that  he  had  been  in  so  far  false  to 
his  convictions  as  to  marry  one  without  the 
pale.  I  will  admit,  however,  that  never  had  I 
the  slightest  clue  to  this  feeling,  in  so  far  as  he 
was  concerned.  But  from  the  very  first  it 
was  only  too  evident  that  upon  almost  every 
principle  of  right  and  wrong  my  husband's 
views  and  my  own  were  diametrically  opposed. 
I  have  often  remembered  since  with  what 
perfect  courtesy  and  gentleness,  though  with 
what  unalterable  firmness,  he  maintained  his 
views;  and  with  what  anger,  disdain,  and 


94  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

headstrong  perversity  I  opposed  him.  His 
opposition,  in  fact,  awakened  in  me  a  special 
fury  against  him  and  the  constant  desire  to 
thwart  him  in  every  way.  I  contended  that 
it  was  impossible  for  him  to  love  me  when  he 
would  not  accede  to  my  requests.  Often  have 
I  seen  him  white  and  haggard  from  the 
struggle  between  his  wish  to  please  me  and 
the  dictates  of  conscience,  which  I  would 
have  overridden  as  I  had  overridden  all  other 
obstacles  in  the  course  of  my  life.  I  am 
perhaps  wearying  you,  Mr.  Fox;  but  I  shall 
soon  have  done." 

Phileas  very  truly  answered  that  he  found 
the  narrative  of  absorbing  interest,  and  the 
old  woman  went  on: 

"People  are  talking  much  nowadays  of  the 
Nietzechean  philosophy,  with  its  principle  of 
the  rights  of  strength  over  weakness,  and  the 
disposition  to  obtain  all  that  one  wants  at  the 
expense  of  everybody  else.  That  is  a  crude 
summary  of  the  matter;  but  that  philosophy 
was  mine.  How  that  was  necessarily  opposed 
in  many  instances,  and  especially  in  one,  by 
an  earnest  and  devout  Catholic,  you  will 
readily  understand." 

Phileas,  while  keeping  his  attention  fixed 
upon  the  thread  of  that  strange  narrative, 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  95 

felt  his  curiosity  almost  painfully  aroused  by 
the  question  which  the  old  woman  had  asked, 
but  which  she  seemed  in  no  hurry  to  answer. 
Fumbling  nervously  with  the  objects  upon 
the  table,  she  let  her  gaze  wander  around 
the  apartment,  which  possibly  recalled  to 
her  many  painful  memories.  All  at  once  she 
leaned  forward  in  her  chair,  with  one  of  those 
almost  convulsive  movements  that  were  of 
themselves  sufficiently  startling,  and  declared 
with  a  suddenness  that  deprived  the  young 
lawyer  momentarily  of  his  self-possession: 

"John   Vorst,    you   must   know,   is   my   di- 
vorced   husband." 


VIII. 

NOTHING  in  what  had  been  previously 
said  had  prepared  Mr.  Fox  for  the  old 
lady's  announcement,  and  it  shocked 
his  moral  sensibility  to  the  uttermost.  It  is 
a  remarkable  fact  that  the  Catholic  ideal  as 
to  the  indissolubility  of  marriage  takes  so  deep 
a  hold  upon  the  mind  and  conscience  that 
even  the  most  careless  member  of  the  Church 
feels  a  distinct  sense  of  repulsion  on  being 
first  brought  face  to  face  with  one  who  has 
disregarded  this  fundamental  law.  Of  course 
familiarity  lessens  this  impression,  but  it  is 
never  entirely  removed.  It  was  proportion- 
ately strong  in  Phileas,  who  had  been  brought 
up  in  one  of  those  Catholic  homes  which, 
like  salt,  purify  the  moral  atmosphere,  and 
are  as  refreshing  to  the  mind  as  an  oasis  in 
a  desert. 

The  confession  thus  made  by  one  who  had 
held  so  high  a  place  in  the  fashionable  world 
produced  something  like  consternation  in  the 
inner  consciousness  of  Phileas  Fox.  Perhaps 
if  Father  Van  Buren  had  not  been  in  the 
background,  he  would  have  been  tempted  to 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  97 

decline  the  unsavory  case  altogether;  but 
as  it  was  he  hesitated. 

When  she  had  made  this  avowal,  Mrs. 
Wilson  let  her  head  fall  upon  her  breast,  as 
though  she  were  loath  to  meet  the  frank 
young  eyes,  wherein  there  must  necessarily 
be  astonishment,  which  was  in  itself  severest 
condemnation. 

"Yes,"  she  continued,  suddenly  raising  her 
head,  "that  is  the  strangest  and,  you  will 
say,  the  most  revolting  part  of  my  narrative. 
The  information  I  had  gained  in  various  ways, 
the  confiding  affection  of  one  who  was  once 
my  dearest  companion,  placed  at  my  disposal 
all  the  weakness  of  his  legal  position,  and 
left  him  at  my  mercy.  He  had  no  means 
of  opposing  my  nefarious  suit;  nor  was  he 
personally,  as  I  believe,  much  interested.  Had  it 
not  been  for  the  enthusiastic  championship  of  a 
legal  friend  of  his,  an  eminent  solicitor,  and 
for  the  sake  of  some  relatives  whose  interests 
were  at  stake,  he  would  have  let  the  litigation 
go  by  default.  Particularly  after  the  divorce 
it  was  against  his  will  that  the  suit  was  carried 
on,  just  as  it  was  against  his  will,  and  in 
entire  opposition  to  his  principles,  that  I 
procured  that  divorce.  I  obtained  it  very 
cunningly:  I  retained  the  services  of  one  of 


98  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

your  profession,  who  was  not  recommended 
by  Father  Van  Buren  or  any  other  reputable 
person.  He  was  not  so  scrupulous  as  you, 
Mr.  Fox." 

She  stopped  to  smile  upon  the  young  man— 
the  remnant  of  a  smile  which,  the  latter  could 
dimly  perceive,  had  once  been  captivating. 

"For,  though  you  have  said  not  a  word, 
I  can  read  within  your  mind  the  various 
emotions  wherewith  you  have  listened  to  my 
story;  and  you  will  admit — will  you  not?— 
that  it  has  filled  you  with  horror." 

Phileas  Fox  squared  his  shoulders.  This 
was  no  time  for  temporizing.  He  looked 
straight  at  the  questioner,  and  the  blue  eyes 
flashed  like  steel  points  into  the  dark  ones. 

"It  has  horrified  me,"  he  said  almost 
sternly;  "and  it  must  necessarily  horrify  any 
honest  man." 

The  old  woman  bowed  her  head  as  if 
accepting  the  justice  of  the  condemnation, 
which  she  had  not,  however,  expected  to 
hear  pronounced  so  uncompromisingly.  But 
she  liked  the  young  lawyer  none  the  less  for 
this  show  of  strength,  and  the  manifestation 
of  those  qualities  wherein  she  had  begun  to 
fear  he  might  be  lacking.  The  stern  young  face 
showed  precisely  that  quality  which  was  most 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  99 

needed — justice.  She  sighed  deeply,  however, 
as  she  resumed. 

"Nevertheless,  Mr.  Fox,"  she  said,  with 
a  humility  that  sat  strangely  upon  her,  "there 
are  in  this  case  complexities  beyond  the  reach 
of  your  experience,  which  constitute,  if  not 
a  shadow  of  justification,  at  least  some 
semblance  of  an  excuse." 

She  leaned  toward  him,  resting  both  hands 
upon  the  arms  of  the  chair;  and  there  was 
an  inflection  in  her  voice  that  appealed  once 
more  to'  those  sympathies  that  had  been 
driven  sharply  into  the  background,  as  she 
said: 

"When  you  are  some  years  older,  and  have 
begun  to  understand  the  workings  of  feminine 
rature,  you  will  be  disposed  to  make  allow- 
ance. I  shall  be  by  that  time  beyond  the 
reach  of  your  blame  or  your  pity;  but  you 
will  recall  this  memorable  evening,  and  will 
accord  perhaps  to  my  memory  some  shadow 
of  indulgence." 

Despite  the  gentler  promptings  within  him, 
Phileas'  face  was  still  fixed  in  unbending 
disapprobation.  He  even  took  out  his  watch 
and,  with  a  murmured  apology,  regarded  it, 
as  if  to  intimate  that  his  approval  or  dis- 
approval was  by  no  means  vital  to  the 


ioo  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

question  in  hand;  that  time  was  pressing 
and  the  business  of  the  hour  was  still  in 
abeyance.  The  movement  was  not  lost  upon 
the  quick-sighted  old  lady,  who  went  on,  in 
an  altered  tone: 

"I  shall  be  brief  henceforward,  Mr.  Fox. 
Nor  have  I  intruded  upon  you  these  personal 
details,  excessively  painful  to  myself,  but  from 
a  desire  to  acquaint  you  fully  and  entirely 
with  the  facts  in  the  delicate  and  possibly 
difficult  case  which  has  been  entrused  to  you. 
One  remark,  however,  I  feel  called  upon  to 
make.  When  I  spoke  just  now  of  feminine 
nature,  I  meant,  of  course,  as  it  exists  in  the 
world  about  us,  in  all  classes  and  conditions 
unrestrained  by  any  higher  law,  indifferent  to 
the  very  existence  of  such  laws.  The  courts, 
the  problem  play,  the  very  novels  of  the  day, 
prove  beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt  that 
woman  above  all,  because  of  her  keener  sus- 
ceptibilities, needs  a  sure  light  to  guide  her 
steps,  and  a  definite  authority  to  regulate  her 
conduct.  By  that  sanction  only  can  she  prove 
the  undoubted  superiority  of  her  nature,  on 
the  spiritual  side  at  least. 

"With  this  remark,  that  is  perhaps  obvious, 
let  me  say  it  was  not  altogether  for  love  of 
gain  that  I  strove  to  circumvent  John  Vorst. 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  101 

I  will  do  myself  the  justice  to  state  that, 
unwilling  as  I  should  have  been  to  give  up 
part  of  the  estate,  and  especially  this  house, 
I  might  have  been  induced  to  do  so  for  the 
sake  of  one  whom  I  sincerely  loved,  had  not 
other  elements  of  my  nature  entered  into 
the  conflict.  The  time  came  when  the  desire 
for  revenge  was  part  of  the  programme.  I 
longed  to  avenge  upon  John  Vorst  wrongs 
which  were  purely  imaginary,  and  an  opposi- 
tion to  my  schemes  that  sprang  solely  from 
fixed  principle  and  the  force  of  his  convictions. 
And  yet,  through  all  the  vagaries  into  which 
I  was  led  by  my  capricious  and  undisciplined 
nature,  and  though  it  may  seem  a  mockery 
to  refer  now  to  the  existence  of  such  emotions, 
I  may  tell  you  that  I  loved  John  Vorst, — I 
deeply  and  sincerely  loved  him." 

The  words  rang  tragically  and  almost 
weirdly  through  the  apartment.  It  was  as 
though  a  phantom  had  come  back  from  the 
world  beyond  the  tomb,  to  make  known  its 
share  in  earthly  complexities.  And,  to  add 
to  the  weirdness,  the  parrot  in  the  hall, 
awakened  no  doubt  by  the  sound  of  the 
familiar  name,  could  be  heard  through  the 
closed,  heavy  door,  with  cracked  notes  rising 
high  and  higher: 


102  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

"John  Vorst!    John  Vorst!" 

The  passions  and  the  sorrows  that  are 
intense  in  youth  and  tragical  in  middle-age, 
seem  to  be  in  the  old  but  faint  reflections. 
Nevertheless,  there  were  upon  that  aged  face 
traces  of  the  agonizing  conflict  which  must 
have  rent  that  proud  and  imperious  nature. 
Because  of  its  very  strength,  these  traces  had 
remained  as  embers  of  a  once  glowing  fire. 
As  lie  looked,  it  flashed  upon  Phileas  that  in 
judging  cases  even  of  the  most  flagrant  ill- 
doing,  there  is  very  frequently  room  for  the 
exercise  of  the  Christlike  quality  of  mercy, 
from  the  suffering  which  that  very  ill-doing 
entails. 

"But  now  that  you  know  the  chief  factors 
in  this  miserable  story,  and  can  probably 
guess  at  still  more,"  cried  the  old  woman, 
raising  her  head  with  some  of  her  wonted 
energy  and  defiance,  "we  shall  proceed  to 
the  immediate  business  that  has  necessitated 
your  intervention." 

She  struck  the  silver  gong  sharply.  It  was 
answered  so  promptly  by  the  Negro  as  to 
suggest  enchantment. 

" Cadwallader, "  said  Mrs.  Wilson,  "I  require 
my  keys  to  open  the  safe." 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  103 

The  keys  were  brought  and  laid  within 
reach  of  her  hand. 

"You  may  go  now,"  said  the  mistress; 
"but  I  may  want  you  again  presently." 

"Yes,  Missis,"  responded  the  black;  "and 
I  shall  be  prepared  to  obey  the  summons." 

The  old  woman  turned  from  him  impa- 
tiently, having  long  ceased  to  be  amused  by 
the  Negro's  pomposity,  and  barely  waited 
till  he  had  closed  the  door  before  she  began 
to  fumble  amongst  the  keys. 

"Even  to  Cadwallader, "  she  said,  "I  have 
never  entrusted  the  particular  key  that  unlocks 
my  safe." 

She  selected  one  long,  thin  and  skeleton-like 
as  the  fingers  which  held  it,  extending  both 
toward  Phileas: 

"That  is  the  key,"  she  explained;  "and 
yonder  is  the  safe  that  it  will  open." 

The  young  man  took  the  key  from  her 
outstretched  hand,  and,  following  her  gaze, 
perceived  what  appeared  to  be  a  handsome 
rosewood  structure  fitted  into  the  wall.  He 
advanced  somewhat  helplessly  toward  it. 

"Run  your  hand  down  lower,"  said  Mrs. 
Wilson.  "There!  Do  you  not  see  a  small 
keyhole?" 

Phileas  stood  for  an  instant  perplexed,  since 


I04  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

he  certainly  saw  nothing.  The  old  woman's 
cane  tapped  sharply  upon  the  floor,  and  the 
thin,  rasping  voice  cried: 

"There!  there!  Don't  you  see?  Surely  you 
can  find  it." 

"Oh,  here  it  is!"  exclaimed  Phileas,  with 
a  distinct  note  of  relief  in  his  voice;  for  he 
was  beginning  to  fear  that  his  employer  would 
find  him  hopelessly  lacking  in  most  of  the 
qualities  she  had  seemed  to  expect. 

"Good,  yes!  Turn  the  key  once  forward 
and  twice  backward,  and  forward  again.  It 
is  a  little  complicated." 

Obeying  these  instructions,  Phileas  found 
that  the  key  turned  in  the  lock,  and  the  door 
upon  its  hinges,  revealing  a  safe  extending 
far  back  into  the  wall.  It  had  several  shelves, 
the  upper  ones  containing  row  upon  row  of 
cases,  which,  as  Phileas  surmised,  contained 
jewels  of  great  price;  while  the  lower  shelves 
were  filled  chiefly  with  documents  stacked 
together  in  bundles,  and  probably  comprising 
the  history  of  the  once  celebrated  case  of 
Spooner  vs.  Vorst. 

"There!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Wilson,  her  keen 
eyes  penetrating  over  the  lawyer's  bowed  head, 
and  indicating  with  her  cane  the  foremost 
bundles  upon  the  lower  shelf.  "I  think  those 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  105 

are  the  parchments  which  we  shall  most 
immediately  require." 

As  Phileas  dropped  upon  one  knee  to  secure 
the  papers,  he  was  disturbed  by  two  sounds, 
perfectly  distinct,  but  each  of  which  broke 
the  stillness  with  an  almost  weird  effect.  One 
was  the  voice  of  the  parrot  still  ringing  the 
changes  upon  a  name  that  had  once  been 
familiar  in  that  house;  and  the  other  was 
a  feminine  voice  singing  in  high,  clear  tones  a 
single  line  or  two  from  a  modern  ballad. 

"Shut  the  safe  door,  Mr.  Fox,"  said  the 
old  woman,  in  accents  that  betrayed  irritation, 
"and  bring  me  here  the  keys.  I  never  leave 
that  safe  an  instant  unlocked." 

The  lawyer  did  as  directed,  placing  the 
keys,  with  the  bundle  of  papers,  upon  the 
table,  and  resuming  his  seat.  Mrs.  Wilson,  having 
inspected  the  bunch  of  keys  as  though  she 
feared  that  one  might  have  been  abstracted, 
though  probably  more  from  force  of  habit  than 
because  she  had  any  apprehensions  on  the 
subject,  sharply  rang  the  silver  bell.  On  Cad- 
wallader's  appearance,  she  cried  out: 

"Go  at  once  and  cover  that  parrot's  cage." 

As  the  Negro  was  about  to  obey  the  order 
his  imperious  mistress  gave  another  order: 

"Then  knock  at   Miss  Ventnor's  door  and 


106  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

say  I  should  be  obliged  if  she  would  discon- 
tinue her  music  for  the  present." 

For  some  incomprehensible  reason,  Phileas 
felt  this  last  command  to  be  a  personal  griev- 
ance. It  seemed  so  uncalled  for,  and,  before 
a  stranger,  so  discourteous  a  message.  More- 
over, though  the  voice  possessed  no  uncommon 
quality,  and  was  merely  the  outpouring  of  a 
joyous  nature,  is  seemed  so  sweet  a  sound  in 
the  clogged  and  artificial  atmosphere  of  that 
ancient  dwelling,  that  he  was  loath  to  hear  it 
cease.  He  could  not,  of  course,  give  ex- 
pression to  his  sensations,  but  fell  to  examin- 
ing the  cane  that  he  carried,  as  though  he  had 
discovered  something  new  and  interesting  in 
its  manufacture.  The  Negro  hobbled  to  the 
door,  no  doubt  revolving  in  his  urbane  and 
kindly  disposed  mind  some  form  of  words 
which  might  render  the  message  less  offensive. 
But  Mrs.  Wilson  suddenly  arrested  his  steps. 

"That  last  message  about  the  music  will 
scarcely  be  necessary.  Say  instead  to  Miss 
Ventnor  that  her  presence  is  desired  in  the 
library." 

While  the  high,  clear  notes  still  penetrated 
the  apartment,  Phileas  was  full  of  interest 
and  curiosity.  Here  was  a  new  element  which 
might  pleasantly  relieve  the  monotony  of  that 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  107 

tragic  story,  whose  interest  lay  in  the  past. 
For  age,  even  though  it  has  passed  through  the 
most  thrilling  experiences,  can  never  entirely 
captivate  the  imagination  of  youth,  always 
unconsciously  looking  for  some  link  which 
shall  bind  one  generation  to  another.  The 
trills  of  the  singer,  which  resembled  nothing 
so  much  as  the  bird  song  pouring  in  rapture 
from  the  heights  of  tall  trees,  continued;  while 
the  old  woman  sat  nodding  and  frowning. 
Phileas  listened  likewise,  with  a  half  smile 
upon  his  lips  and  a  light  of  expectation  in  his 
eyes.  Suddenly  it  became  evident  that  the 
Negro  had  reached  his  destination;  for  the 
song  ceased,  and  the  young  lawyer  felt  as  if 
a  light  had  gone  out.  Unconsciously,  thence- 
forth his  gaze  was  fixed  upon  the  door. 

When  it  opened,  there  appeared  upon  the 
threshold  a  young  girl  apparently  not  more 
than  nineteen  or  twenty  years  of  age.  She 
was  very  plainly  dressed,  though  with  an 
exquisite  neatness  and  smartness  that  was 
more  noticeable  than  any  actual  claim  to 
beauty.  With  her  coming  it  seemed  as  if  a 
warm  human  interest  had  suddenly  pervaded 
the  apartment,  which  had  hitherto  been  filled 
with  shadows  and  the  flotsam  and  jetsam,  as 
it  were,  of  an  ideal  world. 


I08  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

"Let  me  introduce  Mr.  Fox,  my  dear,"  said 
the  old  woman,  addressing  the  newcomer. 
"Miss  Ventnor,  Mr.  Fox." 

The  girl  acknowledged  the  introduction  by 
a  bend  of  the  head,  and  a  smile  that  almost 
degenerated  into  a  laugh,  as  at  some  thought 
of  her  own.  Phileas  remembered  the  remark 
which  he  had  overheard  upon  the  occasion 
of  his  first  visit,  and  associated  therewith  the 
smile  and  the  look  of  humorous  intelligence 
in  the  eyes.  He  accordingly  made  his  bow 
of  acknowledgment  somewhat  stiffer  and  more 
formal  than  it  would  otherwise  have  been. 
Yet  it  was  impossible  not  to  feel  in  sympathy 
with  a  new  and  bright  personality,  that 
perhaps,  in  contrast  with  the  old,  seemed  the 
more  sunny  and  wholesome.  Even  the  old 
woman,  as  he  saw,  regarded  the  girl  with  a 
very  friendly  eye,  and  her  manner  lost  all 
trace  of  its  previous  irritation. 

"I  have  sent  for  you,  Isabel,"  she  explained, 
"because  I  want  you,  like  the  good  girl  you 
are,  to  sort  out  some  of  these  papers  for  me. 
Now  that  Mr.  Fox  and  I  have  talked  over 
those  details  which  would  be  quite  improper 
for  young  girls  to  hear,  I  will  let  you  help  us 
to  disentangle  this  knot  of  legal  documents." 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  109 

She  nodded  and  smiled  at  the  girl  as  she 
talked,  and  added  aside  to  the  lawyer: 

"Oh,  she  is  a  good  little  puss,  quite  fresh 
from  the  convent  and  knows  nothing  of  the 
wicked  world  and  its  ways!" 

"Thank  Heaven  for  that!"  thought  the 
listener.  "For  the  older  generation  has  monopo- 
lized more  than  its  share  of  such  knowledge." 

The  young  girl  meanwhile  regarded  them 
both  with  her  laughing,  steady  gaze,  taking 
in  good  part  the  old  lady's  raillery,  and  with- 
out the  slightest  trace  of  having  been  put  at 
a  disadvantage. 

"Now,  my  dear,"  went  on  Mrs.  Wilson, 
speaking  with  that  tone  which  Phileas  had 
not  before  heard  from  her — light,  pleasant, 
cheerful, — "sit  down  here  at  the  table  and  sort 
out  for  me  some  of  these  musty  documents." 

Isabel  took  her  place  with  quite  a  business- 
like air;  and,  slipping  off  the  rubber  band 
that  held  two  or  three  of  the  documents 
together,  read  out  the  titles  to  Mrs.  Wilson, 
who  briefly  directed  her: 

"Put  that  one  here    and  that  one  there." 

Phileas  watched  the  long,  slender  ringers, 
delicately  brown  in  coloring,  sorting  over  the 
parchments,  many  of  which  were  discolored 
from  age,  and  recorded  the  strife  of  warring 


no  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

passions.  Her  movements  were  quick  and 
deft.  She  scarcely  spoke  at  all  until  after 
she  had  accomplished  her  task.  Then  she 
said,  in  the  same  light,  half -petulant  tone  in 
which  the  lawyer  had  first  heard  her  comment 
upon  his  own  name: 

"That  John  Vorst  must  feel  his  ears  burning, 
for  his  name  is  repeated  over  so  very  often." 

The  old  woman  gave  her  a  strange  look, 
which  was  not  lost  upon  the  observer. 

"Yes,  his  name  is  repeated  over  very  often," 
she  echoed.  "You  see,  Isabel,  he  was  the 
defendant  in  that  suit." 

"Why  people  should  ever  go  to  law," 
Isabel  continued,  "and  waste  so  many  words 
over  their  disputes,  is  a  mystery  to  me." 

Then  she  directly  addressed  the  lawyer: 

"Why  don't  you  try,  Mr.  Fox,  to  find  out 
a  quicker  way  of  settling  matters?" 

"That  would  not  be  nearly  so  advantageous 
for  us,"  Phileas  said,  answering  the  smile  in 
the  clear  eyes,  and  finding  himself  ever  so 
much  more  at  home  with  this  new  acquaint- 
ance than  with  the  grim  figure  in  the  chair, 
who  had  made  him  feel  so  hopelessly  young 
and  inexperienced.  "Those  words,  you  see, 
are  our  bread  and  butter." 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  in 

"You  must  have  an  abundant  supply,  then," 
retorted  Isabel. 

Mrs.  Wilson  meanwhile  watched  the  two 
with  an  amused  and  interested  glance,  that 
softened  the  hard,  skeleton-like  contour,  and 
brought  it,  as  it  were,  within  the  pale  of  human 
interest. 

"Have  I  sorted  out  all  the  papers  that  are 
to  be  delivered  up  to  Mr.  Fox?"  Isabel 
presently  inquired. 

"Yes,  I  think  you  may  give  him  this  bundle 
to  the  left,"  Mrs.  Wilson  answered.  "He 
will  have  occupation  enough  for  the  present 
in  looking  them  over.  Another  time  I  may 
find  some  more  work  for  your  nimble  fingers." 

"Which  means  that  I  am  dismissed,"  said 
Isabel;  and,  to  the  lawyer's  great  regret, 
she  rose  as  she  spoke,  while  the  older  woman 
smilingly  nodded  assent. 

Isabel  stood  carelessly  leaning  upon  the 
back  of  the  chair;  and,  Phileas  having  like- 
wise risen,  the  twro  confronting  each  other 
made  a  pleasant  picture  in  the  shadows  of 
that  old  library. '  Isabel  smilingly  regarded 
the  young  man  with  a  certain  friendly  interest, 
as  remote  as  possible  from  coquetry.  She 
had  rather  the  manner  of  one  who,  leading  a 
retired  life,  and  full  of  the  lively  interest  of 


U2  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

her  age  in  whatever  is  going  forward,  is  glad 
of  any  interruption  to  the  dull  routine. 

"I  don't  envy  you,  Mr.  Fox,"  said  Isabel, 
"the  reading  of  all  those  yellow  and  musty 
pages.  The  law  must  be  a  tiresome  profession." 

"Not  always,"  replied  Phileas.  "From  my 
short  experience,  I  find  that  it  is  full  of 
interest." 

"Yes,"  admitted  the  girl.  "That  I  suppose, 
would  be  its  redeeming  feature:  meeting  all 
sorts  of  people  and  hearing  all  sorts  of 
adventures — 

"And  finding  criminals  even  where  least 
expected,"  Mrs.  Wilson  interposed  quietly. 

"Oh,  I  should  not  like  that  part  of  it!" 
objected  Isabel.  "I  detest  criminals." 

"Though  they  are  not  always  entirely  de- 
testable," said  Mrs.  Wilson,  a  little  wistfully, 
as  her  eyes  met  those  of  the  lawyer.  "Has 
not  that  been  your  experience,  Mr.  Fox?" 

"My  experience,  as  I  said,  has  been  very 
limited,"  answered  the  young  man;  "but 
I  am  sure  that  what  you  say  is  quite  correct." 

"For  my  part,  I  do  not  like  them  either 
in  or  out  of  fiction,"  persisted  Isabel,  still 
with  the  same  laughing  glance  and  the  look 
of  humorous  intelligence  in  her  face. 

And   Phileas  felt  that  here  was,   indeed,   a 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  113 

strange  situation, — the  unconsciousness  of  the 
one,  with  the  full  knowledge  of  the  other,  and 
both  pitted  against  the  critical  observation  of 
a  third. 

"Perhaps,"  said  Mrs.  Wilson,  in  a  whimsical 
playing  with  the  situation  that  struck  Phileas 
as  somehow  incongruous  and  surprising,  "when 
you  are  a  little  longer  out  of  the  convent, 
whence  such  monstrosities  are  banished,  you 
will  find,  my  dear,  that  they  often  walk  the 
streets  and  are  met  with  in  drawing-rooms, 
and  that  their  ordinary  speech  and  bearing 
differ  but  little  from  the  deportment  of  civilized 
men." 

"Mrs.  Wilson  loves  to  astonish  me  with 
paradoxes,"  said  Isabel,  "or  to  propound 
riddles  for  which  there  is  no  answer." 

"She  propounds  only  the  commonplaces  of 
life,"  observed  the  old  lady;  "and  they  are 
more  puzzling  than  any  riddles." 

Isabel  shook  her  head,  and,  still  smiling, 
and  with  a  nod  to  Phileas,  retreated  toward 
the  door. 

"I  am  sure  Mr.  Fox  will  be  better  at  riddles 
than  I  am,"  she  said. 

"It  is  part  of  my  trade,"  laughed  Phileas, 
as  he  opened  the  door  for  the  girl  to  pass 
out. 


n4  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

Next  instant  she  was  heard  in  the  hall 
in  animated  converse  with  Cadwallader. 

As  the  young  man  resumed  his  seat,  Mrs. 
Wilson  said: 

"She  is  like  perpetual  sunshine,  and  I  have 
kept  her  outside  of  the  shadow  in  so  far  as 
possible.  I  thought  it  wiser." 

"Oh,  very  much  wiser!"  exclaimed  Phileas, 
and  the  unconscious  warmth  of  his  tone  made 
the  old  woman  smile  and  sigh.  It  was,  in 
fact,  an  unintentional  admission  of  the  manner 
in  which  her  story  had  impressed  him,  and 
there  are  few  women  so  old  as  to  be  indifferent 
to  condemnation. 

"She  is  so  ignorant  of  the  whole  affair 
that  John  Vorst  is  to  her  a  mere  name  or 
abstraction,  the  defendant  in  some  antedilu- 
vian lawsuit.  She  is  no  relation  of  mine; 
she  is,  in  fact,  the — 

A  trifling  interruption  occurred.  Cadwalla- 
der opened  the  door,  and  appeared  upon  the 
threshold  to  know  if  "ole  Missis"  had  rung. 
Mrs.  Wilson  answered  somewhat  sharply  in 
the  negative;  but  even  when  the  door  was 
closed,  and  the  Negro  had  withdrawn,  she  did 
not  resume  the  previous  subject  of  discourse. 
She  forgot  what  she  had  meant  to  say,  or 
perhaps  she  thought  better  of  giving  this  young 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  115 

man  information  that  could  not  concern  him. 
Whatever  was  her  reason,  and  somewhat  to 
the  lawyer's  disappointment,  she  proceeded 
directly  to  business. 


IX. 

ATER  Isabel  had  withdrawn,  Mrs. 
Wilson,  in  clear,  businesslike  tones, 
that  were  once  more  a  surprise  to 
the  lawyer,  proceeded  to  give  a  synopsis  of 
the  various  documents,  refreshing  her  memory 
by  a  glance  at  the  outside  of  each  packet. 

"We  shall  have  to  procure  in  some  manner 
the  reversal  of  these  decisions,"  she  said. 
"You  will  know  the  proper  steps  to  take; 
for  I  am  quite  convinced  that  John  Vorst 
will  not  consent  to  a  compromise,  nor  accept 
anything  in  the  nature  of  a  favor  at  my  hands. 
You  will  study  the  case  in  the  light  of  what- 
ever new  information  you  may  find  in  those 
documents,  and  then  make  your  report  to  me. 
Everything  must  be  done  with  the  most 
scrupulous  legality,  to  protect  the  rightful 
heirs  from  possible  litigation  on  the  part  of 
the  Spooner  or  Wilson  connection." 

Phileas  asked  permission  to  run  his  eye 
hastily  over  the  most  important  of  the 
documents,  so  that  he  might  have  his  client's 
enlightenment  upon  points  that  seemed 
obscure.  The  eye  that  had  been  merely  frank 
and  smiling  became  astute  and  thoughtful, 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  117 

and  the  expression  of  the  face  such  as  to  elicit 
from  Mrs.  Wilson  the  mental  comment: 

"A  natural  lawyer,  and  one  who  is  sure 
to  succeed." 

The  few  and  pertinent  remarks  that  he 
made  as  he  proceeded,  still  further  provoked 
her  admiration.  She  nodded  each  time 
approvingly. 

"A  cool  head,  an  admirable  judgment  for 
one  so  young,"  she  thought.  "I  shall  have 
more  respect  in  future  for  that  particular 
color  of  hair." 

"I  think,"  said  Phileas,  when  he  had 
concluded  that  cursory  examination  of  the 
documents,  "that  I  should,  as  the  first  step, 
ask  for  an  interview  with  Mr.  Vorst's  legal 
representatives." 

An  expression  of  alarm  crossed  the  old 
woman's  face. 

"Have  nothing  to  do  with  his  represent- 
atives. Avoid  them  as  you  would  the 
plague,  —  at  least,"  she  added,  modifying  the 
expression,  "at  this  stage  of  the  proceedings. 
They  will  suppose  that  we  are  merely  making 
a  new  move  in  the  game,  and  will  endeavor 
to  block  up  every  avenue  of  information." 

"How  about  John  Vorst  himself?"  inquired 
the  lawyer.  "There  are  cases  in  law,  as  else- 


n8  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

where,  where  absolute  frankness  is  best. 
Could  I  not  see  him  and  explain  your  present 
ideas?" 

"Mr.  Fox,"  said  the  old  woman,  "there 
is  an  old  and  very  vulgar  proverb  which  will 
best  answer  that  question:  'Catch  your  hare, 
then  cook  him." 

Phileas  looked  up  from  the  papers  he  was 
studying,  with  a  new  gleam  of  interest  and 
intelligence. 

"Why,  how  is  that?"  he  asked  eagerly. 

A  look  as  of  acute  suffering  passed  over 
the  aged  countenance  as  Mrs.  Wilson  said: 

"It  has  been  impossible  for  several  months 
past  to  discover  even  the  slightest  trace  of 
John  Vorst  or  his  whereabouts.  We  have 
made  our  inquiries  as  judiciously  as  possible 
but  nothing  whatsoever  has  transpired." 

Here  was  a  complication  with  a  vengeance. 

"Whether  he  has  heard  in  some  manner 
of  a  new  activity  upon  our  part,"  said  Mrs. 
Wilson,  a  frown  of  anxious  thought  puckering 
her  brows,  "or  whatever  is  the  reason,  the 
defendant  in  that  celebrated  case  has  appar- 
ently disappeared." 

Phileas  Fox  hesitated  an  instant  before  he 
asked  the  question  which  immediately  occurred 
to  his  mind: 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  119 

"Have  you  any  reason  to  suppose  that — 
that  the  defendant  in  this  case  is — dead?" 

The  look  of  pain  that  crossed  Mrs.  Wilson's 
face  was  now  so  distinct  that  it  fairly  startled 
the  attorney. 

"I  have  this  much  reason  to  think  other- 
wise," she  said,  in  a  low  voice,  wherein  were 
the  traces  of  a  deep  emotion:  "that  no 
possible  evidence  of  his  death  is  to  be  found; 
and  surely  there  would  be  no  special  cause 
for  concealment  if  such  were  the  case." 

"No,"  assented  Phileas,  "in  so  far  at  least 
as  we  can  determine.  But  many  men  make 
eccentric  wills  and  leave  unusual  instructions 
to  their  legatees." 

"I  do  not  believe  he  is  dead!"  cried  Mrs. 
Wilson,  passionately,  striking  her  cane  vehe- 
mently upon  the  floor.  "After  all  my  tears  and 
supplications  these  long  and  weary  months, 
Heaven  would  not  condemn  me  to  bear  that 
burden  to  my  grave.  And  yet,  Mr.  Fox," 
she  said,  after  a  pause,  with  a  sharp  drawing 
in  of  her  breath,  "I  deserve  that, — I  deserve 
anything  that  may  befall.  But  God  forbid 
that  I  should  never  in  this  life  be  enabled  to 
let  him  know  that  I  had  repented!" 

Phileas  bent  over  the  papers,  appalled  by 
the  agony  that  he  saw  betrayed  before  him, 


120  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

and  feeling  how  altogether  commonplace  had 
been  his  own  experience  of  life,  its  happenings, 
its  vicissitudes;  above  all,  how  deep  and 
terrible  are  those  recesses  of  the  human  heart, 
wherein  a  strong  nature  wrestles  with  its 
despair,  its  anguish,  and  its  remorse.  When 
she  spoke  again  it  was  in  a  composed  and 
natural  tone  of  voice. 

"So  you  begin  to  see,  Mr.  Fox,  the  difficul- 
ties under  which  we  labor?" 

"Yes,"  agreed  Phileas;  "and  to  my  mind 
it  seems  evident  that  the  first  step  to  be 
taken  is  to  discover  the  whereabouts  of  John 
Vorst.  Such  discovery  might  preclude  the 
necessity  for  any  further  litigation." 

"I  am  not  quite  so  certain  of  that," 
commented  the  old  woman;  "but,  as  you 
say,  it  might." 

"It  would,  in  any  event,  simplify  every- 
thing, or  at  least  show  us  where  we  stand. 
In  fact,  Mrs.  Wilson,  either  his  discovery  or 
the  certain  proof  of — 

He  hesitated  to  mention  that  word  which 
had  already  given  his  client  so  keen  a  distress; 
but  she  herself  calmly  finished  the  sentence: 

"The  proof  of  his  demise.  Yes,  failing 
all  else,  we  must  obtain  that  for  the  sake  of 
those  others," 


PH1LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  121 

"Then,"  said  Phileas  Fox,  "I  shall,  of 
course,  as  you  suggest,  examine  all  the  papers, 
and  acquaint  myself  as  fully  as  possible  with 
the  case;  but  I  believe  that  all  my  activities 
must  be  in  the  direction  of  what  I  have  just 
stated." 

"And  you  are  hereby  fully  authorized  to 
take  any  step,  to  expend  any  reasonable  sum 
of  money — and  that  part  of  it  I  leave  entirely 
to  your  own  honesty, — to  discover  John  Vorst. 
Remember,  Mr.  Fox,  that  is  one  of  my  reasons 
for  selecting  a  young  lawyer  who  could  not 
possibly  be  busy.  You  see,  I  believe  that 
absolute  frankness  and  the  absence  of  all 
pretence  between  us  is  best.  It  was  not  my 
only  reason  for  choosing  you.  The  others 
were,  Father  Van  Buren's  estimate  of  your 
perfect  integrity,  and  the  intelligence,  ability 
and  legal  aptitude  which  he  believed  you  to 
possess.  But  the  point  I  wish  to  emphasize 
is  this.  Take  any  necessary  time,  if  need  be 
take  any  journey,  and  I  will  make  it  worth 
your  while,  so  that  such  time  or  such  absence 
may  be  no  loss  to  you.  And  you  will  be 
liberally  paid,  besides,  for  whatever  service 
you  may  render.  Are  you  willing  to  accept 
those  terms?" 

"I  will  be  frank  enough  to  say  that  they 


122  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

are  almost  too  munificent,  and  that,  so  far, 
there  is  nothing  to  prevent  my  giving  the 
chief  portion  of  my  time  to  your  affairs." 

"Very  well,  then;  so  much  is  settled.  Study 
the  case,  if  you  will;  but,  above  all,  seek  out 
a  clue  and  follow  that  with  all  diligence  and 
discretion.  I  might,  indeed,  have  put  upon 
the  track  detectives  who  would,  no  doubt, 
have  discovered  the  missing  defendant;  but 
such  a  course  of  action  is  distasteful  to  myself, 
and  would  be  particularly  so  to  him." 

"May  I  ask  another  question?"  said 
Phileas, — "though  no  doubt  I  shall  find  the 
answer  to  it  in  some  of  these  documents. 
But,  wherever  possible,  I  prefer  to  be  informed 
by  word  of  mouth." 

"Ask  any  question  that  occurs  to  you," 
replied  his  client,  readily. 

"Was  this  claim  of  John  Vorst  a  result  of 
his  marriage  with  you, — anything  in  the  way 
of  a  matrimonial  settlement?" 

A  faint  flush  as  of  shame  mantled  the 
withered  cheeks. 

"I  might  rather  say,"  she  answered,  "that 
my  marriage  with  John  Vorst  was,  to  some 
extent,  the  result  of  his  claim.  It  dated  back 
a  generation;  there  had  been  litigation  about 
the  property  in  the  time  of  John's  father; 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  123 

there  was  much  friction;  there  were  inter- 
views, and  what  not;  and  it  all  ended  in  a 
manner  that  could  scarcely  have  been  foreseen. 
Plaintiff  and  defendant  in  those  earlier  law- 
suits were  two  hotheaded  and  romantic  young 
people.  They  were  temporarily  settled  by  our 
marriage;  at  least  the  matter  remained  in 
abeyance;  though  John  Vorst  had  some  visit- 
ings  of  conscience,  being  uncertain  as  to 
whether  or  not  he  should  prosecute  his  claim 
with  a  view  to  the  rights  of  others.  The 
lawsuits  which,  in  fact,  followed  at  the  instance 
of  other  heirs,  were  the  occasion  of  long  and 
bitter  quarrels  between  my  husband  and 
myself;  since  he  had  concluded  that  he  was 
bound  to  make  common  cause  with  the 
claimants,  and  that  he  could  in  nowise  coun- 
tenance the  retention  of  their  property." 

Phileas  took  a  note  of  this  new  aspect  of 
affairs,  upon  which,  however,  he  made  no 
comment. 

"He  finally  went  away,  because  our  life 
together  had  become  intolerable;  and  he  hoped 
that,  when  the  friction  of  daily  existence  was 
removed,  I  might  be  led  to  see  the  justice 
of  his  conduct.  In  my  rage  at  the  obstinacy 
of  his  resistance  no  less  than  at  his  departure, 
I  consulted  the  attorney  of  whom  I  have 


124  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

spoken.  He  advised  me  to  take  advantage  of 
John  Vorst's  absence  to  procure  a  divorce 
upon  the  grounds  of  desertion.  When  the 
papers  were  served  upon  him,  John  Vorst 
wrote  to  me,  saying  that  he  could  not  be  a 
party  to  such  an  iniquity;  that,  however 
the  law  might  decide,  we  were  man  and  wife, 
and  as  such  must  appear  before  the  eternal 
tribunal." 

Mrs.  Wison  gave  herself  an  instant  wherein 
to  draw  breath;  and  Phileas,  sitting  with 
folded  arms  and  head  slightly  bent  forward, 
waited  in  silence  for  her  to  resume. 

"The  divorce  was,  nevertheless,  procured, 
and  the  rest  you  have  already  heard.  And, 
O  Mr.  Fox,  what  a  scourge  to  this  land  of  ours 
are  those  facile  lawyers  and  execrable  divorce 
courts!  Apart  from  their  ethical  and  moral 
aspect,  what  misery  and  remorse  do  they 
too  often  engender!  Think,  for  instance,  of 
my  own  example,  and  the  agony  of  heart  and 
conscience  which  I  have  endured,  simply 
because  I  found  an  easy  means  of  gratifying 
my  ungovernable  temper  and  my  passion  for 
revenge." 

"Divorce  is  the  scandal  of  our  country!" 
exclaimed  Phileas.  "Apart  from  religion,  every 
man  who  has  a  spark  of  patriotism  in  him 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  125 

should  wish  to  see  the  divorce  laws  made  as 
stringent  as  possible." 

As  nothing  further  of  moment  could  be 
arranged  at  that  interview,  Phileas  took  his 
leave,  being  escorted  to  the  door,  with  many 
courteous  expressions,  by  old  Cadwallader.  On 
this  occasion  there  were  no  bolts  and  bars  to 
be  withdrawn,  for  the  door  was  open. 

"Miss  Isabel,"  explained  the  Negro, — "she's 
out  thar  taking  the  air,  and  the  door  is  left 
ajar  so  that  she  can  conveniently  come  in  at 
any  time.  And,"  he  continued  impressively, 
"while  she  walks  about  I  always  keep  an  eye 
upon  her;  for  these  premises,  sah,  they's  by 
no  means  secure  from  trespass.  This  neighbor- 
hood is  not  what  it  was  when  this  residence 
was  built." 

"I  can  well  believe  that,  Cadwallader," 
said  Phileas,  gravely,  repressing  the  smile 
that  rose  to  his  lips  as  he  compared  the  old 
man's  bent  and  enfeebled  frame  with  the  fine 
physique  and  quick,  alert  movements  of  the 
young  woman  of  whom  he  had  constituted 
himself  protector.  And  he  added,  turning  back 
from  the  steps:  "I  think  you  are  wise." 

For  something  in  the  darkness  of  the  place, 
shut  in,  save  for  the  expanse  of  lawn,  by  the 
thickness  of  many  trees,  gave  him  a  swift 


i26  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

impression  of  extreme  isolation  that  was  not 
altogether  pleasant,  considering  the  lawless 
elements  of  society,  and  the  haunts  of  evil 
that  lay  in  close  proximity  to  that  solitude. 

As  he  stepped  forth  into  the  night,  he  hoped 
that  he  might  perceive  the  trim  and  agile 
figure  of  the  young  girl  strolling  about  upon 
the  smooth  grass;  for  the  thought  of  a  chat 
with  her  was  by  no  means  disagreeable.  At 
first,  however,  he  could  see  nothing.  He  went 
down  the  steps,  and  stood  on  the  gravel  path 
leading  toward  the  gate,  breathing  the 
freshness  of  the  air  that  blew  up  from  the 
river,  and  luxuriating  in  the  greennesss  and 
freshness  around  him.  He  stopped  to  light 
a  cigarette  and  to  look  about,  wondering 
whither  Miss  Ventnor  could  have  gone.  The 
grounds  were  extensive,  continuing  downward 
to  the  adjoining  street  at  least,  and  no  doubt 
the  young  girl's  stroll  had  extended  to  their 
farthest  limits.  Of  course  he  could  not  follow 
her.  He  had  no  precise  reason  for  speaking 
to  her  at  all,  and  she  might  even  prefer  to 
keep  out  of  his  way.  For,  as  he  reflected, 
an  attorney,  with  the  uneuphonious  name  of 
"Fox,"  who  was  merely  received  at  the  great 
house  as  Mrs.  Wilson's  legal  adviser,  could  not 
be  a  very  interesting  personage  in  the  eyes  of 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  127 

a  young  girl  fresh  from  school.  Nevertheless, 
Phileas  felt  a  curious  sense  of  disappointment,  at 
which  he  smiled  next  moment,  reminding  him- 
self that  he  had  seen  Miss  Ventnor  only  once. 

As  he  was  proceeding  toward  the  gate,  he 
suddenly  heard  the  sound  of  light,  quick 
footsteps,  literally  flying  over  the  gravel 
behind  him.  He  turned,  and,  somewhat  to 
his  surprise,  saw  Isabel  advancing  toward 
him  at  a  run.  He  stopped,  and  even  in  the 
dimness  of  the  starlight  he  saw  that  she  was 
pale  and  breathless. 

"Mr.  Fox,"  she  cried,  laying  an  agitated 
hand  upon  his  arm,  "I  am  so  glad  you  are 
not  gone  yet!  I  have  just  got  such  a  fright." 

"What  is  it?"  inquired  the  lawyer,  throwing 
away  his  cigarette  and  turning  toward  her 
with  concern.  Even  in  that  instant  Isabel 
noticed,  with  a  sense  of  security,  the  broad 
shoulders  and  compact,  athletic  build  of  the 
lawyer. 

"Listen!"  said  Isabel,  in  the  same  low 
whisper,  but  withdrawing  her  hand  from  the 
young  man's  arm,  as  if  she  had  just  realized 
her  action.  "I  often  walk  about  the  grounds 
here  after  dark,  in  spite  of  Cadwallader's 
warnings;  but  I  have  never  seen  anything 
until  to-night.  Just  now,  as  I  came  round 


128  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

that  corner  of  the  house  near  the  library, 
where  it  is  darkest,  I  saw  a  man.  I  think 
he  is  there  still." 

"Where?"  cried  Phileas,  starting  toward 
the  spot  indicated;  asking  over  his  shoulder 
as  he  went:  "Did  he  annoy  you  in  any 
way?" 

"No,"  answered  the  girl,  in  the  same 
hurried  whisper.  "He  didn't  see  me  at  all. 
He  has  climbed  up  on  one  of  the  garden 
chairs,  and  I  think  he  is  looking  in  at  the 
library  window.  He  may  have  been  trying 
to  hear  what  was  being  said  in  there,  and 
did  not  know  that  you  had  come  out." 

"Go  into  the  house,  I  beg  of  you,"  said 
Phileas,  hastily,  "and  let  me  deal  with  this 
fellow."' 

He  led  her  toward  the  steps,  but  she  would 
not  go  in.  She  stood  nervously  upon  the 
lower  step,  saying: 

"You  had  better  take  care;  he  may  be 
armed.  I  think  I  ought  to  telephone  for 
the  police." 

Phileas  laughed  as  he  grasped  his  stick  and 
disappeared  round  the  corner  of  the  house. 
He  walked  as  lightly  as  possible;  for  he  was 
anxious  to  catch  the  fellow  in  the  act,  and  to 
discover  what  manner  of  prowler  it  was  that 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  129 

had  been  interested  in  listening  to  a  conversa- 
tion. The  fellow  still  stood  as  Isabel  had 
seen  him,  with  his  back  to  Phileas  and  his 
ear  glued  to  the  window;  though  it  was 
evident  that  Mrs.  Wilson's  precaution  in 
causing  the  curtains  to  be  drawn  had  pre- 
vented him  from  discovering  that  the  room 
was  empty.  Phileas  stole  up  behind  the  figure, 
which  was  tall  and  slouching.  Seizing  him 
securely  by  the  collar,  he  dragged  him  to  the 
ground;  and  the  miscreant,  taken  by  surprise, 
made  not  even  the  faintest  attempt  at 
resistance. 

"You  miserable  hound!"  cried  the  lawyer, 
shaking  his  captive  as  if  he  had  been  a  terrier. 
"I  have  a  great  mind  to  break  this  stick  over 
your  head.  If  you  ever  enter  these  grounds 
again,  I'll  give  you  the  best  thrashing  you 
ever  got,  besides  a  trip  to  the  Island  for 
trespass." 

He  hurried  his  captive  along,  as  he  spoke, 
toward  the  gate  at  so  accelerated  a  pace  that 
the  man  began  to  breathe  hard,  struggling  the 
while  to  escape  from  the  strong  grasp.  When 
he  was  about  to  eject  him  forcibly  onto  the 
sidewalk,  the  light  from  a  neighboring  electric 
lamp  fell  upon  the  sinister  face,  and  Phileas, 
with  a  start,  recognized  it  as  that  of  the  would- 


i3o  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

be  client  who  had  come  to  his  office  with  a 
nefarious  proposal.  The  face  of  the  wretch, 
ghastly  with  fear,  was  turned  toward  him,  and 
the  baleful  eyes  met  his  own. 

"On  second  thoughts,  my  man,"  said 
Phileas,  sternly,  "I'll  put  you  where  you'll 
be  safe  for  a  while,  and  until  we  can  find 
out  what  brought  you  spying  about  these 
premises." 

In  his  first  surprise  at  the  rascal's  identity 
with  his  visitor  of  the  office,  he  slightly 
relaxed  his  grasp  of  the  fellow's  collar;  and 
the  latter,  taking  advantage  of  that  momen- 
tary loosening  of  his  adversary's  hold,  released 
himself  by  a  desperate  effort,  fled  round  the 
corner  with  astonishing  agility,  and  down  in 
the  direction  of  the  river.  Phileas  attempted 
no  pursuit,  but  instead  rejoined  Isabel,  where 
she  stood  upon  the  steps,  still  white  and 
trembling. 

"You  should  not  have  touched  him,"  she 
declared;  "he  might  have  had  firearms  or  a 
knife  hidden  about  him." 

"He  had  no  chance  to  use  it,"  laughed 
Phileas.  "I  caught  him  unawares.  I'm  only 
sorry  I  didn't  give  him  a  drubbing.  But  I 
don't  think  he  will  trouble  you  again." 

"This  is  such  a  low   neighborhood,"  Isabel 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  131 

said;  adding,  after  a  pause:  "I  hope  he  will 
not  try  to  get  in  to-night." 

"Miss  Ventnor,"  said  Phileas,  quickly,  "you 
may  set  your  mind  at  rest  on  that  score.  I 
happen  to  have  some  knowledge  of  that 
rascal  in  a  professional  way;  and,  whatever 
his  purpose  in  coming  here,  robbery,  or  at 
least  house-breaking,  has  no  part  in  it.  He 
is  simply  curious  and  in  quest  of  information, 
though  why  I  do  not  precisely  understand." 

This  explanation  did  not  satisfy   Isabel. 

"It  seems  to  me,"  she  said  in  a  low  voice," 
"that  this  house  is  full  of  mysteries,  secrets 
of  all  sorts." 

"All  old  houses  are,"  replied  Phileas;  and 
his  frank,  genial  tone  was  somehow  reassuring. 
Isabel,  afterward  thinking  the  whole  occur- 
rence over,  acknowledged  to  herself  that  she 
almost  forgave  the  lawyer  his  red  hair  and 
uneuphonious  name,  for'  the  tone  of  his  voice 
no  less  than  for  his  prompt  and  manly  action. 

"All  old  houses  are,"  he  repeated;  "and 
this  is  a  splendid  old  place,  and  worth  a 
dozen  modern  dwellings." 

"Yes,"  she  assented.  "And  I  suppose  as 
you  say,  this  is  some  tramp  who  wants  to  find 
out  what  people  are  doing,  I  must  tell  Cad- 
wallader  to  shut  the  gates  at  night.  Inside, 


i32  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

we  have  burglar  alarms  and  the  telephone, 
of  course;  though  at  first  Mrs.  Wilson  objected 
to  their  being  put  in;  and  we  have  the 
number  of  the  police  station  at  the  very  top 
of  the  telephone  card.  In  addition  to  all  that 
we  have  a  watchman,  who  begins  his  rounds 
when  honest  people  are  asleep.  So  you  need 
not  be  anxious  about  us,  Mr.  Fox.  As  Cad- 
wallader  says,  'we  have  got  the  powerful 
protection  of  the  law."1 

Isabel  had  apparently  quite  recovered  from 
her  fright,  save  for  a  slight  pallor;  and  the 
humorous  expression  had  returned  to  her  eyes 
and  the  smile  to  her  lips. 

"I  shall  not  tell  Mrs.  Wilson,"  she  said 
more  gravely,  breaking  into  an  irrepressible 
laugh  as  she  added:  "Nor  Cadwallader,  or  he 
would  patrol  the  halls  all  night." 

But  Cadwallader  had  already  heard;  and, 
as  Isabel  mounted  the  steps  and  the  lawyer 
waited,  they  presently  caught  sight  of  the 
Negro  upon  his  knees  within  the  vestibule, 
praying  "the  good  Lord  to  watch  over  this 
dwelling." 

He  arose  slowly  at  his  young  mistress' 
approach,  and  she  perceived  that  he  was 
trembling  violently.  She  set  herself  to  reassure 
him,  calling  upon  Mr,  Fox  for  corroboration 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  133 

of  her  statements  that  the  prowling  vagabond 
was  in  no  way  dangerous  to  life  or  property. 
The  lawyer  found  something  very  attractive 
in  the  picture  which  she  made, — her  young, 
slender  figure  and  conspicuously  youthful  face 
forming  a  charming  contrast  to  the  feeble 
frame  and  ebony  face  and  grizzled  hair  of  the 
Negro.  Indeed  the  old  man  looked  up  to  her 
with  something  that  was  appealing  and  at 
the  same  time  protective. 

"You're  not  hurt,  honey?"  he  asked 
anxiously. 

"No,  no!"  cried  Isabel;  and  it  seemed  to 
Phileas  that  it  was  a  pretty  sight  to  see  the 
grave  earnestness  with  which  she  strove  to 
set  at  rest  the  oldjfman's  fears^both|for  herself 
and  for  his  personal  safety. 

Suddenly  realizing  that  the  lawyer  still 
waited,  she  called  out: 

"Good-night,    Mr.    Fox,    and    thank    you!" 

"I  am  very  glad  that  I  chanced  to  be  here," 
Phileas  answered  simply,  as,  raising  his  hat, 
he  walked  down  the  path,  pursued  already 
by  the  sound  of  bolts  and  bars  being  instantly 
drawn  by  the  alarmed|Cadwallader. 

As  he  walked  to  the  cars,  however,  he  was 
thoughtful;  for,  though  he  had  minimized  the 
matter  to  Isabel,  he  could  not  precisely 


134  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

determine  what  the  wretched  presence  por- 
tended. He  was  not,  he  felt  sure,  an  ordinary 
burglar, — unless,  indeed,  that  the  diamonds, 
if  he  knew  of  their  existence,  might  have 
tempted  his  cupidity.  It  seemed  more  likely 
that  he  was  in  quest  of  some  information,  or 
had  dogged  his  own  footsteps;  and  for  the 
first  time  the  villain's  threat  against  himself 
recurred  to  his  mind. 


X. 

NEXT  morning,  Phileas,  who  had  sat 
up  half  the  night  looking  over  the 
papers,  drew  up  a  resume  of  the 
case,  in  so  far  as  he  understood  it,  and  began 
to  cast  about  in  his  mind  for  some  clue  to 
that  first  and  most  arduous  undertaking  of 
discovering  John  Vorst.  As  he  looked  at  the 
chimney  tops,  whence  rose  a  haze  of  blue 
smoke,  and  downward  into  the  crowded  maze 
of  streets,  it  seemed  as  if  it  were  useless  to 
try  to  find  any  trace  of  a  single  individual 
who  had  chosen  to  disappear  from  the  public 
eye. 

One  thought  that  forced  itself  into  his 
mind,  always  keenly  observant,  was:  "Why 
did  that  wretched  creature  try  to  spy  upon 
the  mansion  on  Monroe  Street?"  His  thoughts 
turned  to  a  paper  which  lay  upon  his  desk, 
the  lease  between  the  widow,  described  by 
the  smart  clerk  as  "a  slippery  customer," 
and  the  agent  for  a  big  estate.  There  had 
been  some  delay  in  the  affixing  of  the  signa- 
tures, and  the  two  were  to  appear  to-day,  at 
eleven  precisely.  He  looked  at  his  watch: 


I36  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

it    wanted    but   five   minutes    of    that    hour. 

As  he  waited  he  was  painfully  pondering 
the  difficulties  which  lay  in  the  way  of  the 
settlement  of  that  special  case  that  was  to  be 
so  lucrative  and  so  advantageous  from  every 
point  of  view.  There  had  been  little  progress 
as  yet;  but  the  young  lawyer  had  made  the 
success  of  that  undertaking  the  subject  of 
simple  and  earnest  prayer,  as  he  had  done 
with  everything,  from  his  school  examinations 
to  his  admission  to  the  bar.  While  thus 
pondering,  he  heard  the  clock  on  a  neighbor- 
ing tower  strike  eleven;  and  almost  at  the 
very  moment,  as  by  enchantment,  a  knock 
came  to  the  door.  It  was  the  widow,  deprecat- 
ing, apologetic  with  the  harass  and  worry,  and 
the  other  circumstances  that  had  made  her 
"a  slippery  customer,"  written  legibly  upon 
her  face. 

"Good-morning,  sir!"  she  said. 

"  Good  -morning !"  answered  the  lawyer, 
cheerily.  "I  suppose  you  are  the  tenant 
mentioned  in  this  lease?" 

"Yes,  sir,  I  am  Susan  O'Rourke." 

"The  conditions,"  said  Phileas — for  some- 
thing in  her  appearance  touched  him, — "seem 
to  me  rather  severe."' 

The    widow    twisted    her    hands    and    eyed 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  137 

him  as  if  uncertain  what  to  say.  She  did 
not  care  to  admit  that  she  had  frequently 
found  it  hard  to  get  a  house  on  any  condi- 
tions, and  that  she  was  anxious  to  retain  the 
one  of  which  she  was  already  in  possession. 

"You're  not  the  gentleman  that  owns  it?" 
she  inquired. 

"No,  not  at  all,"  replied  Phileas.  "I  have 
been  merely  instructed  to  draw  up  the  lease. 
My  name  is  Fox, — Phileas  Fox." 

The  change  that  passed  over  the  woman's 
face  was  instantaneous  and  perceptible.  The 
sound  of  that  name  struck  with  a  chill  upon 
one  who  had  grown  accustomed  to  catch  at 
straws,  and  attach  an  almost  superstitious 
importance  to  the  veriest  trifles. 

"Fox!  Fox!"  she  repeated  over  to  herself. 
"And  a  red  fox  at  that!  O  the  Lord  help  me, 
for  the  people  I'm  getting  in  among!" 

She  shrank  into  herself,  sitting  helplessly 
on  the  edge  of  a  chair,  and  apparently  dis- 
inclined to  utter  another  word. 

"Are  you  prepared  to  accept  these  condi- 
tions?" Phileas  asked  kindly.  "If  you  wish 
I'll  read  them  over  to  you." 

"Oh,  what's  the  use?"  broke  forth  the 
widow,  fearing  some  snare  on  the  part  of  this 
legal  personage,  whom  she  now  regarded  as  a 


138  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

new  adversary.  "I'll  have  to  accept  them, 
whatever  they  are." 

"But,"  said  Phileas,  "you  should  be  aware 
of  what  obligations  you  are  contracting."  He 
spoke  with  a  touch  of  severity,  for  it  occurred 
to  him  that  since  she  accepted  conditions  so 
recklessly  she  had  no  mind  to  keep  them. 

"It's  this  way,  Mr.  Fox,'  she  said,  pro- 
nouncing the  obnoxious  name  with  reluctance. 
"I  want  to  keep  the  house  I'm  in.  It  suits 
me,  and  I'm  used  to  it,  and  houses  are  always 
hard  to  get.  The  agent  has  made  up  his  mind 
to  raise  the  rent  and  to  add  new  conditions, 
and  I'll  have  to  abide  by  them  whatever  they 
are,  and  do  the  best  I  can.  It  would  ruin 
me  entirely  to  leave  the  place." 

"Well,"  said  Phileas,  "I  have  warned  you, 
and  I  think  you  ought  to  hear  these  provisions 
read  aloud  before  the  agent  comes,  and  to 
make  up  your  mind  if  some  less  expensive 
house  might  not  suit  you  better." 

"Oh,  that's  it,  is  it,  Mr.  Fox?"  said  the 
woman,  suddenly  becoming  aggressive,  and 
pronouncing  the  name  in  a  tone  of  such 
contempt  as  plainly  conveyed  her  meaning  to 
the  lawyer. 

Petty  as  was  the  offence,  the  young  man 
reddened  with  vexation. 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  139 

" You've  got  another  tenant  in  your  eye; 
and  just  because  I'm  a  poor  widow,  you're 
trying  to  get  out  of  the  bargain.  Oh,  I  knew 
what  would  happen  the  minute  ever  I  heard 
your  name!" 

Despite  the  abusive  tone,  and  the  injustice 
of  the  charge,  Phileas  was  moved  to  pity  at 
sight  of  the  thin,  worn  face. 

"You  are  altogether  mistaken,"  he  said. 
"I  have  nothing  at  all  to  do  with  the  matter, 
except  that  I  was  instructed  to  draw  up  this 
lease  and  procure  the  signatures." 

The  poor  woman  breathed  more  freely, 
resuming  the  seat  which  she  had  vacated; 
though  still  eyeing  the  young  man  with  a 
suspicion  that  was  at  once  exasperating  and 
amusing. 

"I  ask  your  pardon,  sir!"  she  said.  "But 
I'm  that  put  about,  with  the  fear  of  losing 
the  house  and  all  my  lodgers  with  it,  that  I 
scarce  know  what  I'm  saying." 

"Oh,  I  think  you  can  keep  the  house  all 
right!"  said  Phileas.  "But,  if  you  have  the 
means  of  paying  for  it,  you  ought  to  get  it 
on  easier  terms." 

The  wistful  intentness  of  the  widow's  gaze, 
the  pitiful  contraction  of  the  mouth,  touched 
him  to  the  quick. 


140  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

"I'll  see  what  I  can  do  for  you,"  he  said 
impetuously. 

"And  you  won't  be  charging  me  too  much?" 
the  woman  asked  anxiously. 

Before  Phileas  could  reply  the  door  was 
thrown  open  with  the  barest  suspicion  of  a 
knock,  and  a  burly,  red-faced  personage 
advanced  into  the  room,  with  a  scarcely  per- 
ceptible nod  to  the  woman,  and  paused  beside 
Phileas  at  the  desk. 

"I  have  been  referred  to  you  by  Place 
&  Atwater,"  he  said  briefly,  as  if  he  were 
unwilling  to  waste  a  syllable.  "Have  you 
got  the  lease  ready  to  close  this  affair?" 

"Take  a  seat,  if  you  please,  Mr.  Grant," 
answered  Phileas,  disregarding  the  other's  per- 
emptory manner.  "There  is  a  word  or  two 
that  should  be  said,  on  behalf  of  my  client 
here." 

"Your  client!  What  the — "  began  the  agent 
roughly;  and  the  widow  cast  a  startled  glance 
at  the  lawyer.  When  she  had  chanced  to  be 
called  by  that  title  heretofore,  she  had  paid 
dearly  for  the  privilege. 

"I  should  recommend  a  little  more  patience 
and  civility,  Mr.  Grant,"  said  Phileas,  opening 
the  lease.  "They  are  never  wasted." 

He  cast  his  eye  over  the  various  provisions 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  141 

of  the  lease,  making  a  red  mark  here  and 
there  with  a  pencil. 

"Before  I  can  advise  my  client  to  sign, 
Mr.  Grant,"  he  said,  "I  must  object  to  these 
provisions." 

Mr.  Grant,  who  was  too  shrewd  a  man  of 
business  to  waste  time  in  argument  took 
the  document  thus  amended. 

"What  do  you  propose?"    he  asked. 

Phileas,  in  a  few,  clear  and  forcible  words, 
the  form  of  which  met  with  the  other's 
approval,  gave  what  he  believed  to  be  a 
fairer  presentment  of  the  widow's  case. 

"Before  we  go  any  further,  Mr.  Fox,"  the 
agent  objected,  with  a  spiteful  glance  at  the 
woman,  "you  must  know  that  this  tenant  is 
a  notorious  side-stepper  when  it  comes  to 
paying  rent.  She  has  been  ejected  more  than 
once  from  houses,  and  is  registered  on  several 
offices  as  bad  pay.  I  myself  have  had  trouble 
enough  with  her." 

"Still,"  said  Phileas,  his  sensitive  face 
flushing  at  hearing  the  widow  thus  charac- 
terized in  her  presence,  "if  you  accept  her  at 
all,  it  must  be  on  fair  conditions.  Why  do 
you  try  to  make  payment  more  difficult  for 
her?  If  she  fails  to  pay,  of  course  that  will 


142  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

be  another  matter;  and,  besides,  you  are 
free  to  reject  her  altogether." 

"Oh,  don't  do  that,  Mr.  Grant!"  cried  the 
widow.  "Never  heed  him.  I'm  ready  to  take 
the  house  on  any  conditions." 

The  agent  glanced  from  the  woman  to  the 
young  lawyer  at  the  desk.  There  was  some- 
thing in  this  affair  that  he  did  not  understand 
and  he  wondered  why  Place  &  Atwater  had 
chanced  to  transfer  this  particular  case  to 
a  stranger.  Nevertheless,  he  saw  that  Phileas 
had  certain  qualities  which  he  did  not  care 
to  antagonize,  and  he  had  no  mind  to  deserve 
the  reputation  of  being  unduly  hard.  Moreover, 
it  suited  him  to  have  a  tenant  for  a 
house  that  would  require  much  repair  to 
render  it  desirable. 

"Make  it  out  as  you  will,"  he  said;  "and 
be  quick  about  it.  I  have  an  appointment 
in  twenty  minutes." 

Phileas  set  to  work.  Mr.  Grant  produced 
from  his  pocket  a  newspaper,  to  the  perusal 
of  which  he  devoted  himself;  and  there  was 
no  sound  in  the  office  save  the  scratching  of 
the  lawyer's  pen.  When  Phileas  had  made 
the  necessary  corrections,  the  smart  clerk  from 
Place  &  Atwater 's  was  called  to  act  as 
witness,  and  the  two  principals  affixed  their 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  143' 

respective  signatures.  This  done,  the  clerk 
disappeared  with  surprising  agility,  followed 
by  the  agent,  with  a  barely  civil  nod  to 
Phileas,  and  an  admonition  to  the  tenant  to 
look  out  for  herself  and  come  up  to  time  with 
her  rent.  The  widow  stood  twisting  her  hands 
and  gazing  doubtfully  at  the  lawyer. 

"Well,"  said  the  latter,  cheerfully,  "the 
conditions  of  payment  are  somewhat  easier, 
and  the  agent  has  promised  to  pay  for  some 
of  the  repairs  that  may  be  required.  I  hope 
you  will  be  able  to  meet  your  obligations." 

"I'll  do  my  best,"  promised  the  widow. 
"And  now,  sir,  what  have  I  to  pay  you?" 

"Pay  me!"  said  Phileas.     "For  what?" 

"For  those  things  you  did, — the  writing 
and  all  to  that." 

"For  the  writing,  nothing,"  answered 
Phileas.  "There  is  of  course  a  fee  payable 
by  the  tenant  for  making  out  the  lease." 

"I  know  that,  sir,"  said  the  woman.  "I 
have  it  here." 

For,  in  fact,  she  was  too  fatally  familiar 
with  those  minor  forms  of  law,  which  her 
various  experiences  of  house-renting  had  neces- 
sitated. She  drew  from  her  pocket  a  worn  and 
shabby  purse,  and  from  its  scanty  contents 
took  a  bill. 


144  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

"Never  mind  that!"  said  the  lawyer.  "Keep 
that  for  part  of  your  next  rent." 

It  was  a  quixotic  action  upon  the  part  of  a 
young  man,  who  was  rather  hard  pressed  to 
make  all  ends  meet.  To  his  astonishment 
and  somewhat  to  his  dismay,  the  widow  burst 
out  crying, — not  a  demonstrative  sobbing,  but 
a  quiet  flow  of  tears,  which  she  wiped  away 
with  a  handkerchief  of  doubtful  propriety. 

"I'm  twenty  years  at  the  business,"  she 
said,  as  soon  as  she  had  controlled  her 
emotions,  "and  I  never  met  with  the  like 
before.  May  God  reward  you,  sir,  for  all 
you've  done  this  day!" 

"It's  nothing, — not  worth  mentioning," 
Phileas  protested. 

"Nothing,"  repeated  the  woman,  "to  make 
that  skinflint  loosen  his  claws,  and  to  charge 
me  nothing  for  that  lease  and  the  work  you've 
done!  Oh,  it's  too  much, — it's  too  much!" 

"Well,  perhaps  you'll  do  me  a  good  turn 
sometime,  if  you  have  the  chance,"  responded 
Phileas.  "And  let  me  advise  you  again  to  be 
as  punctual  as  you  can  with  your  payments. 
That  agent  is  a  hard  man." 

"He  is  that,"  assented  the  widow;  "and 
I've  met  with  many  of  them  in  my  time. 
Oh,  if  you  knew,  sir,  what  it  means  to  keep 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  145 

lodgers  in  New  York  city,  with  the  sharks 
that  are  going  about  and  the  dead  beats  and 
frauds  of  every  kind!" 

"I  suppose,"  remarked  Phileas,  with  a 
sudden  impulse  of  curiosity  which  he  could 
scarcely  have  explained,  "that  you  happen 
upon  a  good  lodger  occasionally?" 

"If  I  didn't,  sir,  what  would  become  of 
myself  and  my  children?"  the  widow  answered 
with  emphasis.  "There  was  one  gentleman 
I  had  that  was  the  best  of  all." 

"Old  or  young?"   asked   Phileas,   idly. 

"Old  enough,"  responded  the  woman,  whose 
face,  now  relieved  momentarily  from  the  acute 
symptoms  of  worry,  suggested  a  bygone  come- 
liness, and  whose  tongue  was  loosened  almost 
to  garrulity  by  her  joy  in  the  solution  of  her 
difficulties.  "About  sixty  I'd  judge  him  to 
be." 

"Was  he  in  comfortable  circumstances?" 
the  lawyer  inquired  again. 

"He  was  that,  sir,  and  open  and  free- 
hearted; and,  not  like  most  of  them,  he  was 
a  real,  tony  gentleman." 

A  sudden  gleam  of  genuine  interest  shot 
into  Phileas'  eyes. 

"Had  he  any  relatives?"  he  said  eagerly. 

"None  that  ever  came  next  or  near  him," 


146  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

answered  Susan  O'Rourke,  decidedly;  and, 
being  now  launched  on  what  was  evidently 
a  favorite  topic,  and  gratified  by  the  lawyer's 
interest,  she  went  on:  "And  I  may  say  to 
you,  Mr.  Fox,  what  I  wouldn't  say  to 
another."  (She  looked  all  around  her  and 
dropped  her  voice  to  a  whisper.)  "Sometimes 
it  did  appear  to  me  that  the  poor  gentleman 
might  be  in  hiding." 

"In  hiding?"  echoed  Phileas,  trying  to 
conceal  how  profoundly  he  was  moved  by  a 
statement  which  seemed  to  fit  in  with  a 
possibility  that  had  occurred  to  his  mind. 
"But  why  should  a  gentleman  such  as  you 
describe  be  in  hiding?" 

"Not  from  any  fault  of  his  own,"  said  the 
woman, — "I'd  stake  my  life  for  that.  But 
maybe  it  was  from  some  one  he  was  afraid  of 
or  that  had  wronged  him." 

"Do  you  remember  his  name?"  asked 
Phileas,  breathlessly. 

In  a  moment  the  widow's  former  suspicions 
had  returned  to  her  mind,  and  she  answered 
dryly : 

"He  never  told  me  his  name,  Mr.  Fox, 
and  I  never  asked  him." 

She  watched  the  lawyer  furtively  as  she 
spoke;  for  it  is  one  of  the  penalties  of  living 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  147 

in  a  mean  and  sordid  atmosphere  that  the 
suspicions  are  ever  active  and  the  whole  being 
permeated  with  the  poison  of  distrust. 

Phileas  insisted  no  further.  Bidding  the 
woman  a  cheerful  "Good-morning!"  he  dis- 
missed her.  He,  however,  took  a  careful  note 
of  all  that  she  had  said  concerning  her 
mysterious  lodger,  and  resolved  to  prosecute 
his  inquiries  in  that  direction  at  a  more  fitting 
opportunity.  It  was  not  for  some  time  later, 
though,  that  he  heard  anything  more  of 
Susan  O'Rourke.  He  was  afraid  to  approach 
her  in  the  matter  too  soon  and  too  directly; 
for  he  had  gauged  her  turn  of  mind,  and 
felt  convinced  that  her  suspicions  had  been 
awakened  by  his  too  lively  interest  in  her 
narrative,  and  especially  by  his  question  as 
to  the  name. 

The  hard  and  aggressive  landlord  unwit- 
tingly did  him  a  favor.  Calling  at  the  house 
to  collect  the  first  month's  rent,  he  delivered 
a  tirade  against  the  young  attorney  who  had 
thrust  his  nose  into  other  people's  affairs, 
and  who  had  made  things  so  easy  for  the 
tenant  and  cheapened  the  property.  When 
the  woman  had  informed  the  agent  with 
futile  garrulity  of  the  lawyer's  generosity, 
the  agent  had  launched  forth  against  soft- 


148  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

heads  in  general,  and  that  one  in  particular. 
This  abuse,  coupled  with  Mr.  Fox's  genuine 
kindness,  had  somehow  served  to  dispel  her 
suspicions  and  to  transform  her  into  a 
partisan. 

She  transported  herself  once  more  to  the 
tall  building  in  Pine  Street,  passing  with  the 
continuous  stream  of  people  through  the  wide 
entrance,  with  its  floor  of  tessellated  marble, 
and  up  in  one  of  the  numerous  elevators — 
wherein  she  was  the  only  female  passenger — 
to  the  fourteenth  story.  There  she  alighted; 
confused  by  the  similarity  of  the  offices,  she 
took  a  wrong  turn  and  stood  looking  help- 
lessly around.  Finally  she  made  up  her  mind 
to  inquire  for  the  whereabouts  of  Phileas 
Fox  at  one  of  the  doors,  inside  of  which  the 
men  were  all  busy,  looking  out  at  her  from 
high-railed  desks,  or  up  from  low  ones.  She 
addressed  her  inquiry  to  an  elderly  clerk  with 
a  bald  crown,  who  came  forth  from  a  half- 
glass  door  and  escorted  her  to  her  destination. 
As  they  went,  he  observed  by  way  of 
conversation : 

"They  say  he's  a  right  smart  young  feller, 
that  Fox." 

Mrs.   O'Rourke  threw  up  her  hands. 

"The  smartest  ever  you  met!" 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  149 

"A  regular  fox,  eh?"  said  the  bald  man, 
chuckling  at  his  own  joke.  "Why,  his  name 
is  a  first-class  advertisement  for  him,  as  most 
folks  want  a  foxy  lawyer." 

"Indeed,  then,  he  belies  his  name,"  replied 
the  widow,  with  warmth.  "He's  the  best- 
hearted  young  man  that  has  crossed  my  path 
in  many  a  day." 

"Is  that  so?"  commented  the  bald  man, 
turning  a  scrutinizing  glance  upon  his  infor- 
mant, as  if  to  judge  of  her  ability  to  form  an 
opinion.  "I  may  give  him  a  call  one  of  these 
days  myself.  I'm  in  search  of  an  honest 
lawyer." 

The  pair  had  by  this  time  reached  their 
destination;  and  the  bald  man,  with  a  wave 
of  the  hand  to  deprecate  thanks,  and  with 
the  ejaculation,  "There  you  are!"  departed 
upon  his  way. 

Mrs.  O'Rourke  had  to  wait  for  some 
moments  in  a  tiny  anteroom  beyond  the 
curtain,  as  Mr.  Fox  was  engaged  with  one 
of  the  clients  who  had  begun  to  arrive  in 
respectable  numbers  within  the  last  week. 
She  was  presently  admitted,  however,  and 
provided  with  a  chair  beside  the  lawyer's 
desk.  Phileas  was,  in  truth,  both  surprised  and 
pleased  to  see  her,  having  pondered  for 


150  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

several  days  on  the  advisability  of  paying 
her  a  visit.  Greeting  her  cordially,  with  a 
jesting  allusion  to  her  landlord,  he  strove 
to  put  her  at  ease.  She  sat  still,  however, 
for  some  moments,  with  a  painful  twisting 
of  her  fingers  that  denoted  agitation.  Finally 
she  said: 

"Mr.  Fox,  sir,  I'm  afraid  I  was  sharp  with 
you  the  other  day.  A  lone  woman  who  has 
her  way  to  make  gets  to  be  suspicious." 

"Oh,  said  Phileas,"  it  was  perfectly  natural! 
You  were  quite  right  to  keep  your  lodger's 
secret,  if  he  had  one." 

"It  was  all  an  idea  of  my  own,"  said  the 
widow,  "that  he  wanted  things  kept  secret. 
He  never  said  so  much  to  my  face.  But 
I  was  wondering,  after  I  left  you,  if  you  had 
any  reason  for  putting  the  questions  you  did." 

Phileas  hesitated,  and  the  bright  blue  eyes 
gave  forth  their  steel-like  glint  as  he  in  turn 
questioned  the  speaker's  face.  It  was  shrewd 
of  her  to  have  surmised  that  he  had  some 
special  motive  in  making  inquiries;  and  he 
wondered  if  it  were,  indeed,  gratitude  or  a 
desire  to  apologize  that  had  brought  her 
hither.  All  at  once  he  came  to  a  decision, 
and  it  was  one  in  harmony  with  his  natural 
disposition.  It  was  in  favor  of  dealing  frankly 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  151 

with  his  visitor;  for  it  must  be  owned  that 
the  investigations  he  had  been  conducting 
in  various  directions  had  utterly  failed  to 
"locate"  the  missing  defendant  in  that  once 
celebrated  case.  If  the  surmise  which  had 
flashed  into  his  mind  with  the  force  of  an 
intuition  should  be  correct,  then  this  woman 
would  be  in  a  position  to  give  him  valuable 
information,  or  at  least  to  furnish  him  with  a 
clue  that  might  be  followed. 

Phileas  therefore  answered  truthfully  that 
he  had  desired  to  learn  the  name  of  her 
mysterious  lodger,  because  it  had  occurred 
to  him  that  that  personage  might  be  iden- 
tical with  one  of  whom  he  was  in  search. 

The  woman  hesitated,  peering  with  her 
wistful,  faded  eyes  into  the  lawyer's  face; 
then  she  said  slowly: 

"If  I  thought  it  would  do  him  harm  what 
I'm  going  to  tell  you  now,  I'd  be  torn  into 
bits  before  I'd  breathe  a  syllable." 

"If  he  be  the  gentleman  I'm  seeking," 
replied  Phileas  eagerly,  "he  will  greatly  benefit 
by  my  discovery  of  his  whereabouts.  In  fact, 
there  is  question  of  an  act  of  justice  to  be 
done  by  a  certain  client  of  mine, — only  I 
must  ask  you  not  to  mention  this  to  any  one." 

He   made   the   latter   suggestion   merely   as 


152  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

a  precautionary  measure,  scarcely  hoping  that 
Susan  would  restrain  her  tongue  under  pro- 
vocation to  the  contrary.  But,  after  all,  as 
he  argued,  very  little  harm  could  result  if 
she  did  repeat  this  conversation  to  the  wrong 
person;  whereas  there  was  a  possibility  of 
material  gain  by  inducing  her  to  tell  what 
she  knew. 

Instead  of  going  on  with  her  story,  she 
surprised  the  young  lawyer  by  posing  him  a 
question  in  her  turn,  and  one  which  might 
have  seemed  irrelevant  to  the  subject. 

"Tell  me,"  said  she,  gazing  earnestly  into 
his  face,  "are  you  a  Catholic,  Mr.  Fox, — one, 
I  mean,  that  goes  to  his  duty  regularly?" 

Phileas  laughed. 

"That  is  a  very  personal  question,  Mrs. 
O'Rourke,"  he  responded.  "But  I  don't  mind 
telling  you  that  I  am  a  Catholic,  and  that 
I  do  go  to  confession." 

"Sure  I  thought  so!"  the  woman  cried 
exultingly.  "I  knew  it  from  the  first."  And, 
having  thus  indulged  in  this  slight  deviation 
from  accuracy,  she  declared:  "Well,  then, 
I'll  tell  you  what  I  never  thought  to  tell  any 
one.  It's  something  I  found  out." 

She  drew  her  chair  closer;  turning  again, 
before  she  began  her  story,  to  scrutinize  the 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  153 

room,  as  if  she  feared  a  listener.  Susan, 
once  launched  upon  her  narrative,  told  all 
that  she  knew  or  surmised  concerning  her 
mysterious  lodger.  He  had  left  her  within 
the  last  half  year,  because,  as  she  had 
gathered  from  a  chance  remark,  he  had  been 
tracked  to  her  house  by  some  one  whose 
observation  he  had  wished  to  avoid.  It  was 
her  opinion  that  the  person  in  question  was 
rich,  or  that  at  least  he  might  have  been 
so  but  for  the  machinations  of  evil-disposed 
relatives.  Her  prolix  recital  included  the 
encomiums  bestowed  upon  her  dwelling  and 
her  system  of  keeping  lodgers,  coupled  with 
vague  theories  as  to  the  unknown  one's 
condition,  prospects,  and  supposed  enemies. 
While  Phileas  listened,  it  had  frequently 
occurred  to  him  that  the  whole  might  be  a 
very  ordinary  and  sordid  affair, — a  good 
paying  lodger  transformed  by  Susan's  lively 
imagination  into  a  "real  tony  gentleman"; 
and  that  the  man's  reasons  for  secrecy  might 
be  of  the  most  prosaic,  if  not  disreputable, 
nature. 

Nevertheless,  in  some  secret  corner  of  his 
mind  he  cherished  the  hope,  extravagant  as 
it  might  appear,  that  the  former  tenant  of 
Mrs.  O'Rourke's  best  room  might  turn  out 


154  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

to  be  the  very  individual  of  whom  he  was 
in  search.  At  all  events,  it  was  with  a 
stirring  of  the  pulses  that  he  received  from 
Susan's  hand  a  torn  and  ragged  scrap  of 
paper,  which  had  been  rescued  from  the 
sweepings  of  the  room  after  the  lodger's 
departure.  Susan  believed  the  address  thereon 
inscribed  to  be  the  gentleman's  actual  place 
of  abode.  She  protested  again  and  again  that 
she  would  not  have  given  this  information 
to  any  one  in  the  world  but  Phileas,  and 
hoped  that  he  would  not  think  she  intended 
to  betray  a  trust.  Phileas,  on  his  part  pledged 
his  solemn  word  of  honor  that  nothing  but 
good  should  accrue  to  her  late  boarder,  should 
he  prove  to  be  the  personage  whom  he  sought; 
and  that  in  any  case  the  knowledge  so 
obtained  would  not  be  used  to  his  disadvan- 
tage. The  lawyer  thanked  her  warmly  for 
the  service  she  had  rendered,  and  promised 
to  pay  her  a  visit  and  acquaint  her  with  the 
result  of  her  disclosure. 


XI. 

ATER  Susan  O'Rourke  had  left  him, 
Phileas  was  so  elated  that  he  closed 
his  office  half  an  hour  earlier  than 
usual,  and  allowed  himself  a  brief  holiday. 
If  it  had  not  been  too  late  in  the  afternoon, 
he  would  have  started  at  once  to  follow  up 
that  clue  which  was  now  the  most  absorbing 
subject  of  his  thoughts.  As  it  was,  he  strolled 
down  toward  the  Battery,  resolved  to  enjoy 
a  trip  to  Staten  Island.  He  sauntered  through 
the  Bowling  Green,  once  a  fashionable  res- 
idential quarter,  upon  which  the  old  Fort  of 
Manhattan  had  looked  out,  and  through  which 
a  stream  of  historical  personages  had  passed 
in  the  long  ago.  It  was  now  a  spot  frequented 
by  emigrants,  where  many  a  forlorn  waif, 
cast  adrift  upon  these  alien  shores,  tasted 
for  the  first  time  the  bitterness  of  exile. 

The  bay,  a  splendid  sheet  of  water,  lay 
clear  in  the  descending  sunlight.  Pale  gold, 
wavering  and  tremulous,  that  sunset  deepened, 
as  he  watched,  into  warm  rose.  It  touched  the 
distant  statue  of  Liberty,  ironic  gift  of  a 
nation  whence  true  liberty  has  been  tern- 


I56  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

porarily  banished.  It  hovered  over  the  un- 
sightly pile  of  buildings  on  Governor's  Island 
and  the  green-wooded  point  of  Brooklyn. 

The  sea-breeze  came  up  and  fanned  his 
cheeks.  It  was  an  invitation  and  a  summons, 
— the  summons  of  the  sea  that  had  always 
appealed  to  him.  He  remembered,  as  he 
hastened  down  the  plank  walk  into  the  ferry- 
house,  with  the  noise  of  the  elevated  railroad 
overhead,  and  of  the  surface  cars  all  about 
him,  how  he  used  to  play  here  occasionally 
as  a  boy,  and  how  he  had  wished  to  be  a 
sailor,  and  had  been  turned  from  that  vocation 
to  this  other  by  the  influence  of  relatives. 
Ah,  well,  he  reflected,  it  was  no  doubt  for 
the  best.  But  the  phantom  of  that  old 
longing  haunted  him  irresistibly  at  times. 

He  stepped  on  board  the  boat,  which  was 
not  yet  too  crowded  for  comfort,  as  it  would 
be  at  a  later  hour;  and,  swinging  himself 
up  the  brass-bound  stairs,  he  passed  to  the 
forward  deck.  He  stopped  in  the  shade  of 
the  cabin  door  to  light  a  cigarette,  for  the 
wind  was  blowing  sharply  outside;  and,  with 
a  hand  to  his  straw  hat  to  insure  its  safety, 
he  made  his  way  to  a  vacant  seat  near  the  rail. 

As  he  drew  near  that,  point  of  vantage, 
he  perceived  the  figure  of  a  girl  which  seemed 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  157 

to  him,  somehow,  familiar.  She  wore  a  close- 
fitting  suit  of  gray,  whose  admirable  tailoring 
displayed  to  advantage  the  grace  and  symme- 
try of  her  figure,  and  that  indefinable  quality 
of  smartness  which  the  plainest  costume  fre- 
quently accentuates.  A  sailor  hat  was  kept 
in  place  by  a  veil  of  gauzy  texture,  matching 
the  costume  in  tint.  The  girl  was  leaning 
lightly  upon  the  rail  looking  seaward,  and 
there  was  in  her  attitude  a  suggestion  of 
youth  and  buoyancy  as  well  as  of  keen  enjoy- 
ment. One  light  spray  of  hair  had  become 
detached  from  the  austere  restraint  of  the 
veil,  and  nestled  curling  upon  her  neck;  a 
clear  pink  was  in  the  cheeks.  A  particularly 
severe  blast  from  the  water  caused  her  to 
turn  aside. 

Phileas  met  the  laughing  eyes,  brightened 
with  enjoyment,  of  Isabel  Ventnor.  He  caught 
the  look  of  instant  recognition,  and  the  smile 
that  rose  to  her  lips  as  he  hastened  to  her 
side  with  an  exclamation  of  pleasure.  He 
had  been  seeing  the  young  girl  rather  fre- 
quently of  late  in  his  visits  to  Mrs.  Wilson, 
and  there  had  sprung  up  between  the  two  a 
friendliness  touched  with  warmer  interest, 
from  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  their 
acquaintance.  Phileas  felt  now  as  if  he  had 


i58  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

encountered  an  old  friend  in  a  foreign  land. 

"This  is  good  fortune!"  he  cried  boyishly; 
for  the  community  of  interests — or  at  least 
Isabel's  connection  with  the  one  topic  which 
the  lawyer  found  at  the  time  engrossing — 
gave  her  a  charm  in  his  eyes  quite  apart  from 
that  which  lay  in  her  mobile  face  and  frank, 
sympathetic  manner. 

"Yes,"  she  assented  to  his  last  remark, 
"it  is  pleasant  to  see  a  familiar  face  in  all 
these  crowds.  And  isn't  it  delightful  here? 
I  just  love  the  salt  water." 

"So  do  I,"  agreed  Phileas,  heartily.  "I 
was  recalling  a  moment  ago  that  I  narrowly 
missed  becoming  a  sailor." 

"And  you  are  a  lawyer  instead,"  the  girl 
commented,  with  something  that  sounded  like 
sympathy  in  her  tone. 

"Yes,  I  am  a  lawyer,  as  you  have  dis- 
covered. But  do  let  me  get  you  a  chair." 

Having  procured  two  instead  of  one,  Phileas 
took  his  place  beside  her,  resuming  the 
conversation  at  the  point  where  it  had  been 
broken  off. 

"Your  tone,"  he  said  laughing,  "does  not 
somehow  convey  a  high  idea  of  the  legal 
profession." 

"Oh,   it's   a   good   enough   profession,   and, 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  159 

as  we  were  saying  before,  interesting  in  some 
respects!"  said  Isabel.  "But  it  doesn't  seem 
to  suit  you." 

"What  a  set  down  for  me,"  cried  Phileas,— 
"for  me  who  have  just  become  the  family 
solicitor!" 

"I  hadn't  the  choosing,  you  know,"  retorted 
Isabel;  "for  if  I  had,  I  should  certainly  have 
chosen  the  conventional  gray  hairs." 

"Are   you   so   very   conventional?" 

"I  scarcely  know,  but  I  think  so." 

"Well,  in  any  case,"  continued  Phileas, 
reflectively,  "Mrs.  Wilson  chose  me  for  a 
precisely  opposite  reason:  because  I  had  not 
gray  hairs." 

"There  is  no  accounting  for  tastes!"  ex- 
claimed the  girl.  "If  I  had  legal  business 
to  transact,  my  preference  would  be  all  for 
age  and  experience." 

"I  am  sorry  that  I  can  not  leap  the  years," 
responded  Phileas,  cheerfully. 

After  that  they  were  silent  a  few  moments, 
looking  out  over  the  bay  and  enjoying  the 
salt  breath  that  blew  up  from  old  Neptune. 
The  boat,  with  a  whistle  discordant  enough 
to  scare  the  sea-birds  that  were  flying  here 
and  there  in  the  clear  air,  and  with  a  mighty 
jostling  and  straining,  broke  loose  from  its 


160  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

moorings,  and  forged  onward  into  the  stream, 
churning  the  water  into  white  foam. 

"As  you  are  in  the  family  secrets  far  more 
than  I,"  said  Isabel,  once  the  commotion 
had  subsided  and  the  vessel  was  proceeding 
tranquilly  upon  its  way,  "I  may  say  that  I 
have  often  wondered  what  they  are  all 
about." 

"And  that  Mrs.  Wilson  will  never  tell  you," 
laughed  Phileas,  "until  you  are  an  old  gray- 
haired  matron.  Very  likely  she  agrees  with 
you  that,  in  some  instances,  gray  hairs  are  a 
pledge  of  discretion." 

"Don't  be  afraid,"  Isabel  said.  "I  am 
not  going  to  ask  any  awkward  questions.  I 
am  far  too  well  trained  for  that.  I  should 
never  think  of  asking  Mrs.  Wilson  anything 
that  she  did  not  volunteer  to  tell  me,  nor 
poor  old  Cadwallader  neither.  The  parrot  would 
willingly  tell  me  if  he  could,  but — 

"So  would  some  of  the  rest  of  us  if  we 
could,"  echoed  Phileas;  "but  in  some  way  or 
other  there  are  limitations." 

"The  way  in  which  the  parrot  harps  upon 
that  one  name,"  said  Isabel,  puckering  her 
brows  at  the  reminiscence,  "is  the  most 
maddening  thing.  But,  in  fact,  the  house 
itself  is  fairly  haunted  by  John  Vorst.  I 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  161 

wonder  if  he  is  dead?  Surely  his  ghost  must 
walk  there  by  night." 

She  gave  a  slight  shiver  as  she  spoke,  which 
might  have  been  caused  by  the  keen  salt 
air,  or  the  superstitious  fancies  that  she  had 
conjured  up. 

"You  see,"  she  went  on,  "besides  the 
servants,  who  are  away  in  another  wing, 
there  are  only  Mrs.  Wilson,  myself,  and  Cad- 
wallader  in  the  main  part  of  the  house, — 
except,  of  course,  the  parrot,  who  sometimes 
wakes  me  in  the  dead  of  night  with  that 
weird  cry  of  'John  Vorst.'  Wouldn't  you 
hate  it,  Mr.  Fox?" 

The  girl  had  an  appealing  little  way  of 
taking  the  young  man  into  her  confidence, 
which  quite  enchanted  him. 

"Yes,"  he  answered,  "I  think  I  should; 
though,  after  all,  what's  in  a  name?" 

"There  is  a  great  deal  in  that  name,"  per- 
sisted Isabel,  half  jest,  whole  earnest;  "and 
I  feel  sure  that  John  Vorst,  whoever  he  is, 
has  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the  house  and  all 
of  us." 

Phileas  met  the  laughing  eyes  unwinkingly. 
He  could  not  betray  by  the  smallest  sign  the 
truth  or  falsity  of  her  surmise.  Under  the 
laughter  of  the  eyes,  he  saw  a  shadow  that 


162  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

somehow  touched  him.  It  spoke  of  a  lonely 
girlhood  shut  up  in  that  ancient  mansion 
with  old  people  and  their  memories.  It  was 
wistful,  dreamy,  pathetic,  all  in  one. 

"Oh,  I  dare  say  John  Vorst  is  a  harmless 
enough  individual,"  he  remarked  lightly,  "and 
his  name  chanced  to  catch  the  parrot's 
fancy!" 

"But  the  bird  looks  so  malignant  when 
he  says  these  two  words,  hopping  from  one 
foot  to  the  other,  as  if  he  had  a  horrible 
recollection  of  the  man." 

"You  are  getting  morbid!"  cried  the  lawyer, 
cheerfully. 

"And,  then,  that  name  is  on  all  the  docu- 
ments," Isabel  added,  as  if  she  felt  that  to 
be  a  horrible  confirmation  of  her  fears. 

Phileas  leaned  over  the  side  of  the  vessel, 
as  if  intent  on  something  in  the  water. 

"Oh,  you  need  not  have  any  fear!"  cried 
Isabel.  "I  am  not  trying  to  find  out  any- 
thing. I  am  only  following  out  my  own 
train  of  thought." 

"Better  try  to  take  a  more  cheerful  view 
of  things  in  general,  including  the  parrot," 
laughed  Phileas. 

Isabel  stopped  him  with  a  little  frown  of 
vexation. 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  163 

"You  are  so  cut-and-dried ! "  she  said.  "If 
you  had  been  a  sailor  instead  of  a  lawyer, 
we  could  have  spent  this  lovely  hour  trying 
to  puzzle  out  between  us  this  mystery  of 
John  Vorst." 

Phileas  laughed  long  and  loud  at  this 
suggestion. 

"If  I  had  been  a  sailor,"  he  replied,  "I 
should  not  have  been  able  to  exchange  a 
word  with  you  for  fear  of  sending  my  good 
ship  onto  rocks  or  shoals." 

"That  is  a  word  from  the  wise!"  the  girl 
retorted. 

"I  fear  I  am  very  far  from  wise,"  said 
Phileas,  and  there  was  something  of  signifi- 
cance in  his  tone.  "There  are  cases  where 
I  might  be  extremely  foolish.  But  I  think 
just  now  we  had  better  leave  carking  care 
behind  us  and  talk  about — ' 

"I  am  only  waiting  for  Mr.  Wiseacre's 
suggestion." 

"Oh,  about  anything  at  all!" 

"Which  means  nothing  at  all." 

"What  do  you  like  best  to  talk  about?" 
inquired  Phileas;  and  that  question  led  the 
pair  into  that  personal  vein  of  likes  and 
dislikes,  and  the  probabilities  concerning  one 
and  the  other,  which  forms  the  staple  con- 


164  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

versation  of  most  young  people.  In  this  way 
they  made  quite  a  substantial  advance  in 
the  knowledge  of  each  other,  and  found  the 
topic  so  interesting  that  they  were  disagree- 
ably surprised  when  the  Island  was  reached. 

"Are  you  getting  off?"  Phileas  asked, 
fearing  that  her  reply  might  be  in  the  affir- 
mative, as  indeed  it  was. 

"Alas,  yes!"  answered  Isabel.  "I  have  a 
message  from  Mrs.  Wilson  to  a  friend  of  hers 
who  lives  down  here.  Are  you  staying  on 
the  boat?" 

"I  had  meant  to.  But — will  you  be  very 
long  in  delivering  your  message?" 

"I  shall  not  be  going  back,"  said  the  girl. 

"I  am  invited  for  an  old-fashioned  high 
tea,  and  to  spend  the  night." 

"Then  I  shall  have  a  solitary  sail  back," 
Phileas  said  regretfully.  "But  perhaps  you 
will  let  me  walk  with  you  to  your  destination 
first?" 

"If  you  are  not  afraid  of  losing  the  boat," 
Isabel  assented. 

"I  shall  take  all  chances,"  the  lawyer 
replied  heartily. 

Isabel  made  no  objection;  for,  though  the 
attorney  was  a  comparatively  recent  acquaint- 
ance, he  stood  in  the  position  of  family 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  165 

lawyer,  honored  by  Mrs.  Wilson's  confidence, 
introduced  by  Father  Van  Buren;  and,  more- 
over, circumstances  had  tended  to  make  her 
better  acquainted  with  him  than  if  they  had 
both  pursued  for  years  the  beaten  path  of 
ordinary  intercourse. 

So  the  two  walked  together  through  that 
garden-like  country,  past  handsome  villas  with 
green  hedges  and  verdant,  velvety  lawns; 
in  the  light  of  the  setting  sun,  in  the  fresh, 
cool  air,  remote  from  the  metropolitan  dust 
and  noise  and  heat.  Though  they  exchanged 
but  few  words,  and  only  occasionally  a  smile 
or  a  glance  of  pure  enjoyment,  the  sail  down 
the  bay,  and  the  walk  together  through  that 
sunlit  land,  with  the  water  stretched  out 
before  them  in  its  glittering  beauty,  estab- 
lished a  perfect  friendliness  between  the  two, 
with  the  hint  of  a  warmer  sentiment  that 
arose  from  the  fresh  and  unspoiled  nature 
of  each.  The  afternoon  remained  in  their 
recollection  for  long  after,  as  a  thing  apart. 

Phileas,  hearing  the  first  whistle  of  the  boat 
just  as  Isabel's  stopping-place  was  reached, 
took  a  hasty  leave  of  his  companion,  saying: 

"This  trip  altogether  was  more  than  I 
could  have  hoped  for.  It  has  repaid  me  for 
the  grind  of  the  week." 


166  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

"And  I  think  it  has  laid  the  ghost  of  John 
Vorst,"  said  Isabel.  "The  air  here,  and  every- 
thing, in  fact,  is  so  delicious!" 

"Good-bye!"  he  cried,  lingering  despite  the 
imperative  call  of  the  ferryboat. 

"Good-bye,  Mr.  Fox!"  answered  the  girl, 
quite  overlooking  his  name's  lack  of  euphony, 
and  the  red  hair  that  all  too  vividly  gleamed 
in  the  sunlight.  For,  after  all,  what  do  such 
things  matter  when  two  are  young,  and  nature 
is  beautiful,  and  minds  are  in  sympathy? 

Reluctantly  Phileas  turned  away,  taking  a 
quick  run  from  the  slope  of  the  road  to  the 
boat  landing,  and  catching  the  ferry  by  a 
hair's  breadth.  The  solitary  sail  cityward  was 
filled  with  the  thoughts  of  his  late  companion. 
Once  more  he  smiled  reminiscently  at  her 
witticisms,  and  was  conscious  of  an  acute 
sympathy  for  her  loneliness. 


XII. 

THE  next  afternoon  a  notice  appeared 
above  that  newly  varnished  sign  on 
the  office  door,  to  the  effect  that 
Mr.  Fox  had  left  town  on  professional  busi- 
ness. The  lawyer  was  thus  forced  to  interrupt, 
for  those  few  hours  at  least,  that  stream  of 
petty  affairs  which  had  begun  to  flow  into 
his  office;  but  he  consoled  himself  with  the 
reflection  that  Saturday  afternoon,  especially 
in  summer,  was  usually  a  slack  time,  and  that 
the  notice  above  mentioned  would  really  serve 
as  an  advertisement. 

Solacing  himself  with  these  reflections, 
Phileas  took  a  train,  which  bore  him  to  a 
solitary  way  station  far  up  in  Westchester 
County.  He  left  the  city,  with  its  noise  and 
dust,  behind  him;  and  journeyed  on,  past 
the  Harlem  River,  with  its  great  bridge 
swinging  lazily  open  to  permit  the  passage 
of  a  boat,  and  its  shores  dotted  with  small 
houses  or  occasionally  with  the  tall  chimney- 
stacks  of  a  factory. 

The  motion  of  the  train  was  restful  after 
the  fret  and  fever  of  the  scenes  whence  he 


168  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

had  escaped;  and  he  was  almost  sorry  when 
that  short  journey  was  over,  and  he  had  to 
alight  at  a  station  without  the  smallest  claim 
to  architectural  or  any  other  beauty.  Rude 
wooden  benches,  within  and  without,  con- 
stituted the  only  furniture,  save  for  an  equally 
primitive  desk  occupying  a  corner.  There  was 
likewise  a  station  master,  who  seemed  prin- 
cipally busy  in  coming  in  at  one  door  and 
going  out  at  the  other.  Phileas  contrived 
to  engage  this  man  in  conversation,  dis- 
covered from  him  a  small  inn  where  he  might 
put  up  for  a  day  or  two,  and  made,  moreover, 
a  few  cautious  inquiries  as  to  the  house  he 
had  come  to  see. 

"There  ain't  none  such  as  you  describe, 
that's  occupied,"  declared  the  agent,  who 
was  taciturn;  nor  could  he  be  moved  from 
this  declaration. 

Phileas,  therefore,  taking  his  suit  case, 
accepted  the  services  of  a  single  vehicle, 
which  stood  forlornly  waiting  the  chance  of 
wayfarers.  And  in  this  he  was  rattled  and 
jolted  speedily  to  the  small  country  hotel 
which  must  be  his  temporary  abode.  Here 
he  made  inquiries  which  were  still  more 
cautious,  as  he  feared  the  place  might  be 
the  headquarters  and  centre  of  gossip;  but 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  169 

could  learn  nothing  in  particular.  After 
his  repast,  which  consisted  of  bacon,  eggs, 
radishes,  and  fried  eggplant,  he  set  forth  on 
a  preliminary  voyage  of  discovery.  He  walked 
up  a  broad  but  lonely  highway,  showing  on 
either  side  ravines,  tree-clothed  and  verdant. 
The  faint,  aromatic  smell  of  the  woods  came 
borne  on  the  night  breeze  that  waved  the 
tops  of  the  trees.  A  bird  or  two  still  sounded 
a  note,  breaking  the  silence  harmoniously; 
a  star  glittered  in  the  west — the  star  "  beloved 
of  lovers," — and  presently  a  myriad  more 
came  shimmering  into  view  in  the  bright 
disc  of  the  firmament. 

Phileas  lit  a  cigar,  so  often  the  solace  of 
darkness  and  loneliness;  and,  after  a  brisk 
walk  of  some  moments,  discovered  a  house 
which  must  necessarily  be  that  of  which  he 
was  in  search,  since  no  other  of  its  kind  was 
anywhere  in  evidence.  He  paused  before  the 
low  wooden  gate,  concealing  himself,  lest  any 
eyes  were  observing  him,  in  the  shadow  of 
a  tree  which  bent  downward  almost  to  the 
ground.  But  the  windows  were,  one  and  all, 
blank  pages, — almost  invisible  in  the  complete 
obscurity  which  enwrapped  the  place.  Not 
a  twinkle  of  light,  not  a  sound  nor  movement 
of  any  sort  to  indicate  human  presence.  He 


170  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

tried  the  gate:  it  yielded,  but  with  a  certain 
stiffness,  as  though  its  joints  were  unused 
to  exercise;  and,  passing  in,  he  stood  gazing 
up  at  the  house.  As  well  as  he  could  deter- 
mine through  the  gloom,  it  was  long  and 
low,  with  no  particular  pretensions  of  any 
sort.  Its  wide  •  veranda  was  elevated  very 
little  above  the  grass-grown  lawn,  which  at 
the  rear  stretched  downward,  as  he  presently 
discovered,  through  a  series  of  natural  terraces 
to  the  banks  of  Long  Island  Sound. 

It  was  a  weird,  ghostly  place;  and,  though 
Phileas  was  as  untroubled  by  fear  as  any 
young  man  of  powerful  frame  and  athletic 
training  could  very  well  be,  he  was  acutely 
conscious  of  the  eeriness  of  the  atmosphere. 
He  walked  slowly  around  the  veranda, 
striving  to  peer  in  through  each  long  French 
window  that  reached  to  the  very  floor.  All 
was  impenetrable  blackness.  With  a  sigh,  he 
gave  up  the  attempt  to  make  any  further 
discovery  that  night,  and  strode  home  to 
the  hotel,  marvelling  whether  the  mysterious 
lodger,  John  Vorst,  if  it  should  chance  to  be 
he,  or  any  other  person,  could  be  at  such 
pains  to  conceal  the  remotest  trace  of  his 
presence. 

Next  day  being  Sunday,   Phileas  left  word 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  171 

that  he  should  be  called  early  in  the  morning, 
for  eight  o'clock  Mass  at  the  Catholic  church, 
which,  as  he  was  informed,  was  distant  half 
a  mile  or  more  from  his  hostelry.  After 
Mass,  he  called  at  the  modest  rectory;  but 
the  pastor  was  absent,  his  place  being  taken 
by  a  stranger.  The  latter  received  Phileas 
cordially,  but  he  could  give  him  little  or  no 
information  as  to  the  district  or  its  inhabitants. 
The  young  man  turned  away  in  disappoint- 
ment. That  was  another  hope  dashed  to  the 
ground.  Carefully  as  he  had  scanned  the 
faces  of  the  congregation:  there  was  not  one 
who,  by  any  possibility,  could  have  answered 
to  the  description  of  the  missing  defendant. 
He  inquired  if  there  was  to  be  another 
Mass,  and  was  told  that  there  was  not,  as 
the  officiating  priest  had  to  sing  High  Mass 
farther  up  the  line.  Phileas  was  for  a  moment 
oppressed  by  a  discouraging  sense  of  failure. 
From  Mrs.  Wilson's  account  of  the  man  who 
had  been  her  husband,  it  was  evident  that 
he  was  a  practical  and  even  devout  Catholic; 
so  it  was  certain  that  if  he  were  in  the 
vicinity  he  would  not  be  absent  from  Mass 
on  Sunday,— unless,  indeed  (and  Phileas 
brightened  at  the  suggestion),  that  he  might 
be  ill  or  incapacitated  from  attending  church 


172  PHILEASlFOX,  Attorney 

at  so  considerable  a  distance  from  his  house. 
Fortified  by  this  hope,  Phileas  enjoyed  a 
plain  but  excellent  breakfast,  to  which  the 
morning  air  lent  a  particular  relish;  after 
which  he  sallied  forth  once  more  in  the 
direction  of  the  apparently  deserted  dwelling. 
As  he  really  saw  it  first  that  Sunday  morning, 
with  the  charm  of  the  Sabbath  sunshine  over 
all,  he  literally  fell  in  love  with  the  place, 
and  applauded  John  Vorst,  or  whoever  might 
be  its  tenant,  for  his  superlative  taste  in  the 
choice  of  a  residence.  Old  rather  than  new, 
shabby  rather  than  elegant,  it  nestled  like  a 
bower  in  those  exquisite  surroundings, — a  lawn 
that  was  far  from  well  kept,  a  flower-garden 
that  had  run  riot,  below  which,  down  through 
refreshing  masses  of  greenness,  lay  the  Sound, 
blue  and  clear  as  the  sky  overhead,  flowing 
placidly  upon  its  way,  with  delightful  ripples 
and  gurgles.  It  was  a  paradisal  spot,  with 
ambrosial  airs,  and  the  checkerwork  of  light, 
radiant,  multiform,  through  "the  incommuni- 
cable trees,"  and  the  murmurings  as  of  peace 
and  content  amongst  their  branches;  a  spot 
that  should  be  essentially  for  love  and 
happiness;  a  place,  thought  Phileas,  para- 
phrasing the  poet,  which  should  be  possessed 
only  by  the  "loving  and  the  loved." 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  173 

The  young  man  made  a  leisurely  but  very 
thorough  tour  of  inspection  about  the  house. 
He  looked  in  through  the  slatted  blinds  of 
the  long  French  windows,  and  beheld  low- 
ceilinged  but  cheerful  and  spacious  apart- 
ments, papered  in  quaint,  flowered  patterns, 
and  with  furniture  grimly  immovable  against 
the  walls.  He  tried  the  doors;  he  strove  to 
undo  the  blinds;  and  at  last  he  rang  the  bell, 
which  reverberated  with  the  hollow  mockery  of 
a  sound  through  the  vacant  rooms  and  up  the 
stairs  (though  it  was  evident  that  no  feet 
ascended  or  descended  them),  and  along  halls 
inhabited  only  by  the  memory  of  the  departed 
tenants.  The  summons,  though  several  times 
repeated,  seemed  as  futile  as  the  agonized 
appeals  made  by  sorrowing  survivors,  to  those 
who  have  passed  beyond  the  soundless  bourne. 
If  John  Vorst  or  any  other  human  being  were 
there,  he  was  in  hiding  with  a  vengeance. 

So  Phileas  reflected,  though  he  felt  morally 
certain  that  there  was  no  one  within  those 
four  walls.  Solitude  had  set  its  unmistakable 
seal  upon  that  domicile.  For  a  human 
presence  always  makes  itself  felt,  even  if  it 
be  in  some  intangible  fashion;  and  the  im- 
palpable loneliness  of  its  absence  is  curiously 
perceptible  even  to  the  least  impressionable. 


174  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

Therefore,  a  deserted  dwelling  in  a  rural 
district  becomes  almost  invariably  a  haunted 
dwelling. 

Phileas  threw  himself  upon  a  bench  on  the 
back  veranda,  and  gave  himself  up  to  a 
delicious  laziness,  through  which  floated  a 
variety  of  thoughts.  And  those  thoughts 
included,  amongst  many  others,  a  pleasant 
memory  of  that  girl  who  had  so  far  lightened 
by  her  cheerful  personality  the  somewhat 
dreary  windings  of  the  case  of  Spooner  vs. 
Vorst.  He  felt  a  sudden,  keen  longing  for 
her  society.  How  delightful  it  would  be  if 
she  were  to  appear!  And  how  she  would 
enjoy  the  mystery  and  the  loneliness  of  this 
place,  with  the  loveliness  of  its  situation! 
The  young  man  realized  with  a  new  thrill 
of  interest  that  in  that  eager,  animated  nature 
he  could  find  a  fresh  stimulus,  and  how 
powerful  might  be  its  help  in  unravelling  the 
windings  of  that  mystery  through  which  he 
had  to  find  his  way  alone.  Feminine  intuition 
has  solved  many  a  difficulty,  gained  the  key 
to  many  an  enigma.  If  only  he  could  have 
taken  Isabel  into  his  confidence!  He  smiled 
at  the  notion;  and  smiled,  too,  over  his  cigar, 
at  various  little  witticisms  or  quaint  observa- 
tions^ofjhersjjjthatlJhadlstuckpn  hisTmemory. 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  175 

She  was  so  charming,  he  thought, — so  per- 
fectly companionable!  There  was  her  special 
attraction. 

Thus  smoking,  and  thus  pondering  pleasant- 
ly and  idly,  Phileas  now  and  again  saw  pass 
a  boat  heavily  laden  with  passengers  going 
up  the  Sound.  Its  splashing  and  its  sputter- 
ing alone  broke  the  silence.  At  intervals 
catboats  scudded  along  with  gleaming  sails 
of  white  spread  to  catch  the  breeze  blowing 
briskly  from  the  west.  Smaller  craft,  with 
energetic  rowers,  flew  over  the  surface  of  the 
stream;  and  cheerful  voices  floated  up  to  the 
idler  on  the  bench,  breaking  in  upon  his 
reverie.  It  was  very  shortly  after  the  passage 
of  the  largest  boat  of  all,  bearing  passengers 
to  New  London,  Norwich  or  other  Connec- 
ticut ports,  that,  as  if  evoked  by  its  whistle 
and  its  huge  bulk  outlined  against  the  sky, 
a  figure  suddenly  became  discernible  behind 
a  clump  of  trees;  and  Phileas  presently  heard 
a  heavy  step  crunching  the  dry  leaves,  relics 
of  a  past  autumn,  that  had  been  suffered  to 
accumulate. 


XIII. 

PHILEAS  started  from  the  easy,  reclin- 
ing posture,  his  eyes  keen  and  watchful 
in  an  instant.  The  figure,  passing 
slowly  behind  the  group  of  trees,  paused 
from  time  to  time;  and  it  seemed  evident 
that  on  each  of  those  occasions  it  was  engaged 
in  reconnoitring,  spying  upon  his  own  move- 
ments. As  well  as  he  could  see,  it  was  that 
of  an  oldish  man,  stout  and  somewhat  heavily 
built.  Could  it  be  John  Vorst?  Or,  failing 
that,  the  widow's  mysterious  lodger?  Phileas 
felt  a  sense  of  irritation  that  he  could  not 
see  the  man's  face,  though  he  was  aware 
that  the  eyes  were  scrutinizing  his  own 
countenance. 

After  a  few  minutes'  silence,  and  just  as 
Phileas  was  making  up  his  mind  to  invade 
the  ambush,  the  intruder  suddenly  stepped 
forth  and  advanced,  with  the  same  slow  and 
heavy  step,  toward  the  veranda.  In  the  first 
acuteness  of  his  disappointment,  Phileas  did 
not  catch  the  ludicrous  aspect  of  the  situation. 
It  was  only  after  £  pause  of  several  seconds 
that  the  young  man  burst  into  a  laugh  at  the 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  177 

association  of  ideas  that  rushed  into  his  mind. 
That  heavy,  lumbering  figure,  dressed  in  the 
Sunday  best  of  a  mechanic,  mistaken  for  the 
beau  who  had  been  reckoned  first  amongst  his 
peers  in  the  elegant  society  of  two  generations 
before,  and  the  husband  of  the  haughty  and 
imperious  mistress  of  the  Monroe  Street 
mansion ! 

The  man,  astonished  by  the  laugh,  paused 
in  front  of  the  veranda,  and  eyed  Phileas 
from  a  pair  of  watery  eyes  set  in  a  heavy  and 
somewhat  surly  countenance. 

"Wot  you  want  here?"    said  a  gruff  voice. 

"What  do  I  want?"  echoed  the  lawyer. 
"Why,  I  might  ask  the  same  question  of  you." 

"I  don't  want  nodding,"  growled  the  man. 

"Then  you  and  I  will  agree  perfectly," 
said  Phileas  placidly,  resuming  his  cigar. 

"I  got  to  see  no  loafer  comes  here." 

"I  don't  envy  you  your  onerous  charge," 
returned  Phileas. 

"But  I  don't  let  you  come  here  no  more, 
neder,"  said  the  German,  beginning  to  show 
signs  of  irritation. 

Phileas  regarded  him  tranquilly. 

"Don't  you  think  you  are  a  little  late?" 
he  inquired.  "I  have  been  here  for  an  hour 
or  more  already." 


178  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

"Den  you  go  away!"  cried  the  man, 
wrathfully. 

"Yes,  by  the  evening  train,"  agreed  the 
lawyer. 

"You  go  dis  minute!" 

Phileas  shook  his  head. 

"You  stay  not  by  here!"  roared  the  other, 
waxing  the  more  irate  as  Phileas  stretched 
himself  again  upon  the  bench  and  sent  rings 
of  smoke  into  the  blue  air.  "You  go  out  by 
dat  gate." 

"Yes;  that's  how  I  came  in,"  assented 
Phileas.  "It's  the  most  convenient  way.  I 
shall  presently  act  upon  your  suggestion." 

"No  public  place  is  it,"  continued  the 
German,  his  eyes  fixed  furiously  upon  the 
imperturbable  lawyer. 

"No,  indeed !  It's  the  most  charming  solitude 
I  have  seen  in  a  long  time.  I  have  enjoyed 
my  stay  here  immensely." 

"You  shall  not,"  retorted  the  other. 

"Ah,  my  friend,"  sighed  the  young  man, 
"you  can  not  deprive  me  of  what  I  already 
have  enjoyed,  malevolent  genius  as  you  seem 
to  be." 

"You  call  me  names,  hey!"  screamed  the 
Teuton,  who  was  rapidly  losing  his  temper. 
"I  show  you  if  come  here  you  can  and  call 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  179 

me  names  in  dis  place  where  I  have  the  care." 

"Oh,    you    are    the    caretaker!"    exclaimed 
Phileas,    a   light   breaking   in   on   his   mind. 
He  took  off  his  hat  and  made  the  old  man  a 
whimsical  bow.     "I  beg  a  thousand  pardons! 
Do  you  live  in  this  house?" 

"Wot's  dat  to  you?"  the  German  said 
testily,  though  he  had  seemed  somewhat  ap- 
peased by  the  change  in  the  young  man's 
manner. 

"I  come  here,"  explained  Phileas,  "to  see, 
if  possible,  the  owner  of  this  place." 

"You  can   not  him   see." 

"Why  not?" 

The   man  waved  his   arms. 

"He  is  not  here.     He  is  gone  far." 

"Where  has   he   gone?" 

The  Teuton  pondered  the  question  in  his  slow 
and  heavy  mind,  evidently  deciding  against 
giving  an  answer;  and  Phileas,  eager,  alert, 
and  burning  with  curiosity,  asked  another: 

"Do   you   live   on   the   premises?" 

"I  live  over  dere,  in  dat  white  house," 
and  he  pointed  to  a  low  structure,  which 
Phileas  had  not  until  that  moment  observed, 
since  it  was  almost  entirely  hidden  by  trees. 

"Well,  can  you  tell  me  anything  about 
the  gentleman  who  lived  here  recently?" 


i8o  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

"De  gentlemans  is  gone.  He  is  not  here 
now,"  repeated  the  old  man. 

"Has  he  been  gone  long?" 

"Nein,  nein!" 

"What  was  he  like?" 

"Like?"  echoed  the  caretaker,  misunder- 
standing the  import  of  the  question.  "He's 
gone." 

"I  mean  can  you  describe  his  appearance?" 
asked  Phileas. 

"Nein,  nein!"  responded  the  Teuton,  who 
was  either  genuinely  ignorant  of  the  ques- 
tioner's meaning  or  chose  to  appear  so.  "He 
was  a  good  gentlemans,"  he  said,  after  a 
reflective  pause;  while  Phileas,  nonplussed, 
was  casting  about  for  the  simplest  form  of 
a  query. 

"Was  he  old?" 

"Most  seventy." 

"Tall?" 

"Yah,   and  not  much  fat." 

"He  is  gone  you  say  to — to — 

But  the  other  remained  imperturbable. 

"To   I  know  not  where,"   he  answered. 

"Will  he  be  gone  long?" 

"Oh,  yah!    He  stay  not  long  by  here." 

"Could  you  tell  me  his  name?" 

"Nein,  nein!"  replied  the  caretaker;    and 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  181 

Phileas  could  not  tell  whether  he  did  not 
know  the  name  or  whether  he  refused  to 
reveal  it. 

"Might  I  see  the  house?"  the  lawyer  in- 
quired next,  perceiving  that  no  further  infor- 
mation was  to  be  had  through  the  medium 
of  questions. 

"It  is  not  for  de  renting." 

"Are  you  sure  of  that?"  Phileas  asked 
quickly,  and  the  old  man  was  plainly  puzzled. 
"For  if  it  be,  I  can  very  easily  get  you  a 
tenant." 

He  also  slipped  a  bill  into  the  German's 
toil-worn  hand.  The  latter,  after  minutely 
examining  the  bill — which,  as  Phileas  put 
it,  was  for  any  trouble  he  might  have, — and 
attentively  surveying  the  young  man  from 
the  crown  of  his  head  to  the  soles  of  his  feet, 
agreed  to  show  him  the  interior  of  the  house. 

"You  stay  by  here  once,"  he  said.  "I 
go  for  bring  key." 

He  shuffled  off  behind  the  leafy  screen 
whence  he  had  come,  and  Phileas  was  left 
for  a  moment  more  in  the  full  enjoyment 
of  the  delightful  scene  in  its  absolute  repose. 
Returning  with  the  key,  the  caretaker  led 
the  way  into  the  hall,  and  thence  into  the 
parlor  and  dining-room,  where  the  cool,  damp 


182  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

smell  precluded  the  idea  of  very  recent 
occupation.  The  latter  apartment  was  plainly 
but  tastefully  furnished  in  chintz-covered  fur- 
niture. A  few  choice  engravings  hung  upon 
the  wall;  and  on  the  mantelpiece  a  tiny 
Dresden  clock  had  stopped  at  the  hour  of 
three, — a  trifling  circumstance  that  somehow 
fixed  itself  within  the  lawyer's  consciousness. 
From  room  to  room  went  the  oddly  assorted 
pair;  for  the  German,  conscientiously  fulfilling 
the  duties  of  his  office,  would  not  let  Phileas 
out  of  his  sight.  The  bedrooms  upstairs  were 
still  more  plainly  furnished,  after  the  manner 
of  a  seaside  cottage;  but  there  was  not  the 
smallest  thing  in  any  of  them  to  suggest  the 
character,  tastes,  or  habits  of  their  late 
occupants,  unless  an  austere  simplicity  could 
be  considered  as  a  guide.  The  hall  at  the 
top  of  the  first  flight  of  stairs  had  evidently 
been  used  as  a  sitting-room,  and  had  retained 
a  more  individual  look  than  the  rest  of  the 
dwelling.  There  stood  a  large  lounging  chair, 
with  a  sofa  covered  with  a  Persian  rug;  while 
in  the  recess  of  the  window,  commanding  a 
fine  view  of  the  bay,  was  a  writing  table. 
Above  this,  upon  the  wall,  was  a  screen  upon 
which  were  illuminated  the  words:  "Here 
is  the  place  of  my  repose." 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  183 

The  young  attorney  paused  there,  his  eyes 
wandering  out  of  the  window  and  over  the 
water,  with  its  ripples  transformed  into  molten 
gold  by  the  vivid  sunshine.  He  tried  to  throw 
himself  into  the  mind  of  the  man  who  had 
lounged  here  or  worked  here,  and  had  ex- 
pressed in  those  few  significant  words  the 
secret  of  the  charm  which  this  lovely  spot 
must  have  held  for  him, — especially  if  he 
were  one  who  was  weary  after  many  tribula- 
tions and  the  stress  of  a  varied  life.  Surely 
it  might  well  be  the  man  of  whom  he  was  in 
search, — a  search  that  had  so  far  proved 
futile. 

As  Phileas  thus  pondered,  he  brought  his 
eyes  from  the  study  of  the  landscape  to  a 
consideration  of  the  objects  immediately  at 
hand;  while  the  German  waited  with  a 
curious,  stolid  patience.  The  lawyer's  keen 
glance  was  caught  by  a  folder  which  lay 
carelessly  upon  the  writing  table.  As  he  took 
it  up,  he  noted  a  trifling  circumstance  which 
made  his  heart  beat  fast  with  an  eager,  almost 
boyish  elation.  It  was  ever  so  slight  a  pencil 
mark  at  the  name  of  a  hotel  in  Boston.  It 
might  mean  nothing  or  it  might  mean  every- 
thing. That  folder  was  a  comparatively  recent 
issue,  and  it  had  evidently  been  consulted 


184  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

by  some  one  who  had  sat  at  that  table  and 
had  considered  the  idea  of  travel.  Phileas 
knew  the  hotel  so  indicated  to  be  a  modest 
and  unpretentious  one  in  a  quiet  neighbor- 
hood,— just  such  as  he  fancied  might  appeal 
to  a  man  who  was  leaving  'the  place  of  his 
repose'  to  avoid  impertinent  intrusion. 

Phileas  threw  down  the  folder  with  studied 
carelessness  (for  it  seemed  that  the  German's 
eyes  were  upon  him),  but  not  before  he  had 
made  a  mental  note  of  the  street  and  the 
hotel.  He  also  paid  a  cordial  tribute  of  praise 
for  the  view  which  that  window  afforded; 
and  the  caretaker,  who  had  begun  to  warm 
to  his  office  of  guide,  presently  grew  rap- 
turous over  that  prospect,  and  others  which 
he  declared  could  be  seen  from  the  different 
windows,  and  upon  the  situation  of  the  house 
in  general.  He  also  let  fall  here  and  there  a 
remark  that  permitted  the  lawyer  some  insight 
into  the  habits  and  character  of  the  gentleman 
who  had  gone.  The  man's  English  became 
more  confused  as  he  advanced  in  his  recital. 
Once  launched,  however,  he  never  faltered 
for  a  moment  in  the  paean  of  praise  he  poured 
forth,  the  greater  part  of  which  was  incom- 
prehensible to  his  hearer. 

Phileas    would    have    given    much    to    be 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  185 

assured  that  the  various  hints  which  the 
Teuton  let  drop  did,  indeed,  apply  to  the 
man  whom  he  sought,  and  not  to  some  other 
old  gentleman  of  eccentric  habits,  who  had 
chosen  to  make  his  abode  at  times  in  this 
solitary  place,  and  to  keep  his  coming  and 
going  a  secret.  By  the  time  he  had  concluded 
the  tour  of  the  house,  he  was  quite  convinced 
that  it  was  hopeless  to  expect  information 
from  the  stolid  and  uncommunicative  guide, 
who,  even  when  warmed  to  admiration  of  the 
dwelling  and  its  surroundings,  never  departed 
from  his  habitual  reticence  with  regard  to 
any  vital  matter. 

As  he  turned  to  go  downstairs,  Phileas 
perceived  an  engraving.  It  represented  the 
solitary  figure  of  a  man  whose  hair  was 
whitened  with  the  frosts  of  years,  whose 
figure  was  bent,  and  whose  attitude  was  one 
of  intense  dejection.  Under  it  was  written, 
in  a  small  but  eminently  characteristic  hand, 
a  verse  from  a  Greek  poet  that  seemed  to 
fit  the  theoretical  personage  whom  he  had 
been  so  busy  in  constructing.  He  remembered 
that  Mrs.  Wilson  had  casually  mentioned  John 
Vorst's  devotion  to  the  classics.  As  the  young 
man  regarded  it  an  instant  in  passing,  he 


i86  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

felt  with  a  curious  certainty  that  here  might 
be  a  new  link  in  the  chain. 

Look  as  he  would,  however,  there  was 
nothing  further  to  be  gleaned;  and,  the 
German  beginning  to  show  signs  of  impatience, 
Phileas  took  his  leave.  He  felt  a  real  reluc- 
tance to  see  the  door  locked  upon  him  and  to 
pass  out  through  the  unobtrusive  gate.  It 
seemed  to  him  as  if  he  were  turning  his  back 
on  a  place  that  had  already  become  dear  and 
familiar. 

Arriving  at  the  hotel,  he  had  to  while  away 
as  best  he  might  the  interval  between  the 
early  midday  meal  and  the  departure  of  the 
afternoon  train.  At  nightfall  he  was  thunder- 
ing once  more  through  the  tunnel,  and 
beholding  the  lights  of  New  York  twinkling 
out  of  the  gloom,  with  the  vast  metropolis 
itself  lying  comparatively  silent  in  the  Sabbath 
restfulness. 


XIV. 

NO  considerable  cases  had  as  yet  been 
entrusted  to  Phileas  Fox,  with  the 
exception  of  that  one  of  Spooner 
vs.  Vorst,  which  might,  very  probably,  be 
settled  out  of  court.  But  he  had,  otherwise, 
made  wonderful  progress  in  the  short  time 
during  which  he  had  sat  behind  the  newly 
painted  sign  and  was  already  known  as  a 
painstaking,  conscientious  and  astute  young 
lawyer.  He  had  also  gained  more  intimate 
knowledge  of  human  nature,  and  more  insight 
into  its  workings,  than  during  all  the  careless 
years  at  home,  in  the  class-room  or  on  the 
campus. 

He  had  been  occasionally  offered  cases,  on 
the  score  of  his  youth,  his  red  hair,  and  his 
cognomen,  which  he  had  declined,  as  in  that 
first  instance,  with  a  fervor  of  indignation  that 
caused  older  practitioners  to  smile.  He  had 
been  appalled  at  the  cold-blooded  cynicism, 
the  greed,  and  the  merciless  trampling  on  the 
rights  of  others,  or  desire  for  a  temporary 
advantage  over  them,  which  had  characterized 
so  many  of  the  clients,  or  would-be  clients, 

187 


188  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

of  the  law  offices.  Meanwhile  these  gifts  of 
oratory  by  which  he  had  hoped  to  dazzle 
judge  and  jury  and  crowded  courtroom  had 
remained  in  abeyance.  He  was  likely  to  secure 
a  good  working  practice,  which  would  insure 
him  a  moderate  income;  but  so  far  his 
prospects  were  by  no  means  extensive. 

That  Monday  after  his  return,  he  chose 
the  luncheon  hour  (contenting  himself  with 
a  hasty  snack  snatched  at  a  counter)  to 
proceed  to  the  address  which  had  been  given 
him  by  the  widow.  It  was  in  a  quiet  and 
once  fashionable  quarter,  overlooking  a  square 
of  green;  there  were  gravelled  walks  and 
the  inevitable  fountain  playing  in  the  centre; 
also  rows  of  benches,  occupied  from  time 
to  time  by  idlers  or  nursemaids.  It  was  not 
a  very  cheering  or  invigorating  prospect;  but, 
as  the  young  man  reflected,  it  was  better 
than  being  shut  in  and  suffocated  by  buildings 
close  crowded  upon  each  other.  Some  broad, 
low  steps  led  to  the  front  door — itself  a  relic 
of  better  things,  in  its  carvings, — with  two 
broad  windows  on  its  left-hand  side,  and  a 
general  appearance  of  striving  hard  to  preserve 
the  original  gentility  of  the  place  in  the  face 
of  numerous  and  insurmountable  obstacles. 

The   little   maid   who   admitted   him   asked, 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  189 

after  an  inspection  of  his  person,  if  he  had 
come  for  rooms;  adding  " because  there  is 
none  but  the  front  parlor."  This  Phileas 
considered  a  hopeful  prognostic  for  the  widow. 
Had  he  been  more  intimately  acquainted  with 
her  calling,  he  would  have  realized  something 
of  the  doubts  and  qualms  with  which  she 
examined  each  new  aspirant  for  the  position 
of  lodger.  For  she  knew,  though  the  visitor 
did  not,  that  some  merely  put  in  a  week  or 
two,  or  even  less,  and  either  absconded  without 
paying  at  all,  or  took  themselves  off  on  some 
frivolous  pretext,  or  harassed  the  soul  out  of 
the  landlady  during  their  stay.  While  Phileas 
waited  in  the  little  den-like  room,  which  the 
widow  reserved  as  a  species  of  office,  he  could 
not  help  reflecting  that  the  apartment  was 
well  calculated  to  drive  away  prospective 
lodgers;  it  was  so  small,  so  close,  and  its  out- 
look through  the  half-glass  door  so  depress- 
ing. 

Presently  Susan  O'Rourke  appeared,  more 
dejected,  more  subdued  by  the  spectre  of 
care  and  worry  than  the  young  man  had 
seen  her  yet.  She  brightened  up  a  little  at 
his  appearance,  especially  as  the  lawyer 
greeted  her  cordially  and  seized  her  limp  hand 
in  a  hearty  shake. 


190  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

"Well,  Mrs.  O'Rourke,"  he  said,  "how  is 
everything  going  with  you?" 

"Pretty  much  as  usual,  sir,"  sighed  the 
widow. 

"I  hear  you  have  your  house  quite  full." 

"That's  true,  thanks  be  to  God!"  said 
Susan,  piously.  "But  I  never  can  tell  from 
day  to  day  how  long  they'll  be  with  me,  or 
what  kind  they  are  with  regard  to  pay." 

"And  do  you  mean  to  say,"  cried  the 
lawyer,  aghast,  "that  you  get  no  security  of 
any  kind  from  them, — no  references?" 

"I  do  the  best  I  can,  Mr.  Fox,"  Susan 
responded.  "But,  oh,  there  are  so  many 
doubtful  characters  going!  And  as  for  refer- 
ences!" (Susan  threw  up  her  hands  to  express 
the  hopelessness  of  such  means  of  information.) 
"Some  of  them,"  she  explained,  "that  come 
with  the  best  recommendation  turn  out  the 
worst.  Folks  have  little  conscience  nowadays 
in  the  matter  of  references.  But  I  hope,  sir, 
that  you  are  succeeding  well  with  the  work 
that  you  are  about.  The  blessing  of  God 
should  be  with  an  honest,  kind-hearted  gentle- 
man like  yourself." 

"Oh,  I'm  all  right,  Mrs.  O'Rourke!"  said 
Phileas,  with  cheerful  optimism;  for  he  could 
not  help  contrasting  his  own  circumstances — 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  191 

young,  strong  and  energetic — with  those  of 
the  forlorn  woman  before  him.  "But  I  came 
here  to  ask  if  you  could  give  me  any  further 
information  about  the  gentleman  who  lodged 
with  you." 

Once  more  the  doubts,  which  sad  circum- 
stances had  planted  "thick  as  leaves  in 
Vallombrosa"  in  the  mind  of  the  poor  widow's 
once  cheerful  and  sunny  nature,  arose;  and 
she  peered  into  Phileas'  face  with  a  scrutiny 
which  the  honest  eyes  met  unfalteringly. 
Could  that  gaze  of  hers  have  penetrated  deep 
into  the  young  man's  heart  and  soul,  it  would 
have  found  them  as  free  from  dark  secrets 
as  the  face  with  its  transparent  blue  eyes 
suggested. 

"And  you  don't  wish  him  any  evil?"  the 
woman  queried. 

"Mrs.  O'Rourke,"  answered  the  lawyer, 
earnestly,  "what  pledge  can  I  give  you  more 
than  my  sacred  word  of  honor  that  if  the 
man  of  whom  I  am  in  search  should  prove 
to  be  your  lodger,  nothing  but  good  shall 
accrue  to  him  from  my  discovery?" 

The  drawn  and  haggard  face  relaxed,  and 
Susan  heaved  a  sigh  of  relief. 

"For,"  said  she,  "it  has  lain  heavy  on 
my  soul  that  I  gave  you  that  bit  of  paper 


192  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

and  that  I  told  you  most  everything  I  knew, 
though  that  same  is  not  much.  He  came 
two  years  ago  last  December;  and  he'd  have 
been  here  yet  if  it  hadn't  been  for  the 
machinations  of  a  villain." 

"A  villain?"  echoed  Phileas,  pricking  up 
his  ears. 

"I'm  coming  to  that,"  continued  Mrs. 
O'Rourke.  "It  got  to  be  so  that  my  lodger 
could  scarcely  stir  out  of  the  door,  or  so  much 
as  sit  near  the  window,  without  having  that 
rapscallion  spying  on  him;  and  sending  him, 
moreover,  messages  through  the  post.  I  don't 
know  what  they  were,  of  course;  but  they 
disturbed  the  poor  gentleman  till  he  could 
hardly  get  a  wink  of  sleep.  And  so  I  lost  the 
rent  of  my  front  parlor,  and  I  haven't  been 
able  to  let  it  since." 

"Could  I  see  it?"  Phileas  said,  feeling  a 
certain  diffidence  in  making  the  request. 

It  was  granted  without  ado,  Mrs.  O'Rourke 
leading  him  along  the  broad,  spacious  hall 
which  had  witnessed  the  coming  and  going 
of  people  of  fashion  when  that  house  had 
been  the  scene  of  many  a  brilliant  event. 
She  threw  open  the  door  of  what  she  called 
the  front  parlor,  a  splendid  apartment  that 
almost  rivalled  in  size  and  character  any  in 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  193 

the  mansion  of  Monroe  Street.  High  ceilinged 
and  massively  plain  in  its  appointments,  it 
preserved  an  indefinable  air  of  elegance, 
scarcely  obscured  by  the  squalor  that  had 
supervened. 

"You  see,  sir,"  said  the  widow  with  pride, 
"what  a  fine  room  he  had." 

She  stepped,  as  she  spoke,  to  the  broad 
window,  deep  indented  in  the  wall;  and 
throwing  open  the  green  blinds,  admitted  a 
flood  of  sunshine,  while  affording  a  glimpse  of 
the  park  outside.  Susan,  as  if  fascinated  by 
the  prospect,  continued  to  gaze  thereupon, 
pouring  forth  a  running  stream  of  reminis- 
cence, mainly  concerning  the  "gentleman" 
and  his  satisfaction  with  his  surroundings. 
Phileas  meanwhile  made  a  rapid  survey  of 
the  apartment,  hoping,  perchance,  to  discover 
another  of  those  links  by  which  he  had  been 
met  in  the  house  in  Westchester. 

"He  scarcely  ever  stirred  out,"  went  on 
Mrs.  O'Rourke,  "except  it  was  to  take  his 
dinner  over  there  on  Broadway.  His  break- 
fast, which  was  the  only  other  meal  he  took, 
I  cooked  for  him  with  my  own  hands;  though 
I  wouldn't  have  done  it  for  any  one  but  him- 
self, and  he  paid  me  well  for  my  trouble.  He 


194  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

was  open-hearted  and  free-handed,  and  no 
mistake." 

"I  think  you  told  me,"  observed  Phileas, 
"that  he  had  no  visitors?" 

"Well,  there  was  one  elderly  gentleman 
that  came  once  in  a  while,  and  I  suspected 
he  was  a  lawyer;  and,  then,  there  was  the 
priest  from  Sixteenth  Street  church,  that  would 
come  of  an  odd  time." 

"A  priest!"  cried  the  lawyer,  grasping  at 
another  clue.  "Do  you  happen  to  know  his 
name?" 

"Father  Driscoll  it  was,"  Mrs.  O'Rourke 
answered. 

"This  gentleman,  then,  was  a  Catholic?" 
said  Phileas. 

"The  best  I  ever  saw,"  responded  the 
enthusiastic  landlady.  "There  was  not  a  feast 
nor  a  fast  of  the  Church  that  that  man  didn't 
keep,  and  he  close  to  the  seventies;  and  up 
and  out  to  Mass  and  Holy  Communion  of 
a  Sunday." 

As  the  landlady  rambled  on  after  this 
fashion,  still  gazing  out  of  the  window, 
she  suddenly  gave  a  start  and  uttered  an 
exclamation. 

"Oh,  there  he  is,  the  villain  of  the  world!" 
she  cried,  thrusting  out  her  head  for  a  better 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  195 

view  of  the  person  so  objurgated.  "Look, 
Mr.  Fox,  sir!  There's  the  biggest  scamp  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  and  that's  saying  a 
good  deal.  He  it  was  who  drove  away  the 
best  lodger  that  I  ever  had." 

If  Phileas  had  had  some  curiosity  before 
to  catch  a  glimpse  of  one  who  had  deserved 
to  rank  so  high  in  the  annals  of  criminology, 
he  was  doubly  anxious  after  that  last  remark, 
which  represented  the  "villain"  as  a  link  in 
the  chain  that  the  lawyer  was  at  such  pains 
to  forge.  Abandoning  his  investigation  of  the 
room,  he  flew  to  the  window;  and  what  was 
his  amazement  to  behold,  by  following  Susan's 
directing  finger,  the  identical  individual  who 
had  aspired  to  be  his  own  first  client!  The 
fellow  was  skulking  behind  some  shrubs  that 
lined  the  iron  railing  of  the  park,  and  it  was 
evident  that  he  was  keeping  an  eye  upon 
the  domicile. 

"He  saw  me  coming  in  here,"  cried  Phileas, 
involuntarily;  "and  that's  what  he's  after  now!" 

"Then  the  Lord  help  you  if  he's  on  your 
track!"  replied  Mrs.  O'Rourke,  with  real  com- 
miseration. "Have  a  care,  sir;  for  he'll  do 
you  some  harm  before  he  ever  lets  you  go." 

Phileas  laughed,  with  an  unconscious  squar- 
ing of  his  broad  shoulders. 


I96  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

"Oh,  I'm  deep  in  his  black  books  already!" 
he  said  carelessly,  but  he  did  not  explain; 
for  he  had  no  mind  to  discuss  what  went  on 
in  his  office,  still  less  to  call  attention  to  the 
mansion  in  Monroe  Street  by  describing  the 
miscreant's  appearance  there.  "Can  you  tell 
me  the  fellow's  name?"  he  asked  after  a 
pause,  during  which  he  continued  to  regard 
the  mean  and  cringing  figure  in  the  shelter 
of  the  bushes. 

"Jason  Trowbridge  is  the  name  he  goes 
by  hereabouts,"  answered  the  widow;  "but 
the  gentleman  I  had  here  called  him,  I  think, 
by  another;  and  he  may  have  half  a  dozen 
names  for  all  you  or  I  know  to  the  contrary." 

"Do  you  remember  that  other  name  by 
which  you  have  heard  him  called?"  asked 
the  lawyer. 

"I  disremember  entirely,"  replied  the 
woman.  "But,  whatever  his  name  is,  he's 
in  every  villainy  that's  going.  They  say  he 
has  made  a  mint  of  money;  but  the  curse 
of  Heaven  will  rest  upon  it,  or  my  name  is 
not  Susan  O'Rourke." 

Phileas,  who  had  retreated  to  a  distance 
from  the  window  to  escape  possible  observa- 
tion from  without,  next  inquired: 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  197 

"Have  you  any  idea  what  his  relations 
might  be  with  your  late  lodger?" 

"Well,  it  seems,  sir,"  said  Susan,  seating 
herself  upon  a  red  velvet  chair,  and  motioning 
her  visitor  to  do  likewise,  smoothing  out  her 
black  dress,  as  she  spoke,  as  though  it  had 
been  an  apron,  "that  a  good  many  years  ago 
he  was  a  clerk  or  something  in  the  gentleman's 
employ,  and  he  was  turned  out  of  his  job, — I 
think  it  was  for  stealing,  though  my  lodger 
would  never  rightly  say.  And  since  that  time 
he  did  every  mortal  thing  he  could  to  annoy 
and  circumvent  and  injure  the  gentleman. 
So  when  he  began  to  haunt  this  house  and 
dog  my  lodger's  steps,  the  gentleman  said  to 
me:  'It's  no  use,  Mrs.  O'Rourke:  I'll  have 
to  go.  I  like  you  and  I  like  your  house,  but 
I  can't  stay  here  any  longer.'  And  one  dark 
night  he  drove  away  from  the  door,  after 
having  had  me  looking  up  and  down  the 
street  and  into  the  park  yonder;  for  the 
villain  might  have  been  lurking  anywhere 
about.  He  was  so  afraid,  you  see,  that  this 
man  would  find  out  where  he  would  be  going." 

Mrs.  O'Rourke's  face  and  gesture  as  she 
thus  chronicled  her  lodger's  departure  ex- 
pressed a  retrospective  dejection. 

"Well,"  she  resumed  presently,  with  another 


198  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

smoothing  out  of  her  black  dress,  "would 
you  believe  me,  sir,  that  rascal  had  the  face 
to  come  here  the  next  day,  ringing  at  my 
bell  and  bringing  me  from  my  work,  and 
asking  if  the  front  parlor  lodger  was  at  home! 
'Not  to  the  like  of  you,'  said  I,  'nor  ever  will 
be.' — 'But  I  have  business  with  him,'  said 
he. — 'Business  that'll  keep,'  said  I. — 'What 
time  will  he  be  in?'  said  he,  giving  no  heed 
to  my  words. — 'Who  told  you  he  was  out?' 
said  I.  'But,  out  or  in,  go  about  your  busi- 
ness, and  let  me  go  back  to  my  work.' 

"Well,  he  stood  there,  palavering  and  argu- 
ing, with  his  foot  on  the  doorstep,  so  that  I 
couldn't  close  it,  do  my  best.  When  he  found 
that  fair  words  wouldn't  answer,  he  began  to 
try  abuse,  calling  me  an  old  hag,  and  I  don't 
know  what  besides.  But  I  never  budged  from 
the  door,  for  fear  he'd  push  past  me  and  find 
that  the  room  was  empty,  and  perhaps  pick 
up  some  piece  of  paper  from  the  floor,  as  I 
afterward  did  myself  when  I  had  time  to 
sweep." 

The  widow  paused  for  breath;  and,  perceiv- 
ing that  her  listener  was  attentive,  continued 
the  swiftly-flowing  course  of  her  narrative: 

"Well,  Mr.  Fox,  we  stood  there  for  full 
twenty  minutes,  when  who  should  come  up 


PHILEASfFOX,  Attorney  199 

the  steps  but  one  of  my  top-floor  roomers — a 
big  fellow  that  plays  football,  and  is  as  good- 
natured  and  kind-hearted  as  a  boy!  'What's 
going  on  here?'  said  he. — 'It's  this  omadhaun 
that's  forcing  himself  in,'  said  I. — 'Oh,  is  that 
it?'  said  my  footballer.  'And  you're  sure  you 
have  no  use  for  him?' — 'Not  even  to  wipe  up 
the  floor,'  said  I. — 'Come  along,  then,  sonny,' 
said  the  big  fellow.  And  down  the  steps  he 
went  with  him  as  if  he  were  a  ball  of  rubber." 

At  that  point  Susan  interrupted  the  tale 
to  give  a  low  laugh  that  was  refreshing  to 
the  lawyer,  it  was  so  genuine  in  its  enjoyment 
of  the  wretch's  discomfiture. 

"Well,  Mr.  Fox,"  she  resumed,  when  her 
merriment  had  subsided,  "if  you  could  have 
seen  the  face  of  him!  He  picked  himself  up 
and  he  shook  his  fist  at  me.  'Look  out, 
sonny,'  said  the  big  fellow  from  the  top  of 
the  steps,  'or  I'll  race  you  to  the  corner.'" 

Phileas  laughed,  remembering  his  own  ex- 
perience, and  reflecting  that  the  miscreant 
must  spend  great  portions  of  his  life  in 
running  or  rebounding  from  the  tips  of  leather 
toes. 

A  few  moments  later  Phileas  rose  to  take 
his  leave,  after  briefly  informing  his  voluble 
acquaintance  that  her  late  lodger  had  not 


200  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

been  found  at  the  address  written  upon  the 
scrap  of  paper.  He  did  not,  however,  think 
it  necessary  to  inform  her  of  his  prospective 
trip  to  Boston,  nor  of  the  motives  that  had 
led  him  to  that  decision.  As  the  "villain" 
was  still  on  the  watch,  and  Phileas  had  no 
mind  just  then  for  a  personal  encounter,  nor 
the  chance  of  being  followed,  he  inquired  of 
the  widow  it  she  had  any  side  door  by  which 
he  might  go  out.  After  a  moment's  reflection, 
Mrs.  O'Rourke  declared  that  there  was  one 
which  would  lead  him  through  the  basement 
hall  and  to  the  back  street.  And  thus  did 
Phileas  take  pleasure  in  eluding  his  pursuer. 
As  he  returned  to  his  office,  and  pondered 
during  the  afternoon  on  the  problem  why  this 
fellow  should  elect  to  dog  his  footsteps,  he 
could  not  determine  whether  it  was  from 
revenge,  from  a  naturally  prying  disposition, 
or  because  of  his  connection  with  the  case  of 
Spooner  vs.  Vorst. 


XV. 

PHILEAS  made  up  his  mind  that  he 
would  lose  no  time  in  following  up 
the  clue  which  should  lead  him  next 
to  the  Hub  of  the  Universe.  It  was  quite 
an  excitement,  this  amateur  detective  work, — 
mild  flavored  indeed,  and  not  at  all  like  the 
wonderful  feats  performed  by  gentlemen  of 
leisure  in  the  novels.  Before  the  lawyer's 
mind,  the  end  of  the  chase  seemed  like  some 
golden  ball  whose  luminous  threads  he  was 
pursuing.  He  could  not  foresee  what  might 
result,  even  should  he  discover  John  Vorst; 
and  these  speculations  as  to  how  that  gentle- 
man might  act,  or  whether  he  would  refuse 
to  enter  into  negotiations,  or  permit  him- 
self to  be  influenced  by  the  change  of  cir- 
cumstances,— all  were  involved  in  a  delightful 
uncertainty. 

Phileas  decided  that  it  would  be  necessary, 
before  his  departure,  to  pay  another  visit 
to  Mrs.  Wilson,  so  as  to  acquaint  her  with 
all  that  he  had  so  far  discovered,  to  ask  her 
advice,  and  perhaps  to  obtain  sundry  valuable 
suggestions.  He  strove  hard  to  persuade  him- 
self that  his  motives  in  desiring  to  present 


202  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

himself  at  the  mansion  in  Monroe  Street  were 
purely  professional.  But  there  was  a  light 
in  his  blue  eyes,  an  eagerness  in  his  face,  and 
an  air  of  pleasant  expectancy  about  him, 
suggesting  that  other  reason  which  lay  deep 
down  in  his  heart,  and  was  scarcely  recog- 
nized by  himself. 

He  advanced  to  the  telephone  and  rang 
up  the  now  familiar  number.  After  a  pause, 
a  voice  which  he  did  not  recognize,  and 
which  sounded  faint  and  muffled  reached  his 
ears.  He  exclaimed: 

"Halloa!    Is  that  Cadwallader?" 

He  distinctly  heard,  on  that  occasion,  a 
perfectly  audible  titter. 

"No,  sir,"  came  the  prompt  reply,  in  a 
feminine  voice. 

"Is    it    Miss    Ventnor?"    inquired    Phileas. 

"No,  sir;  but  if  you  wait  a  moment  I'll 
get  her." 

It  was  only  the  maid,  then;  and  Phileas 
waited  with  an  agreeable  expectancy  for  the 
coming  of  that  other  whom  he  had  learned 
to  regard  as  so  attractive. 

Presently  a  voice — the  voice — said: 

"Halloa!" 

"Is    that    Miss    Ventnor?"    asked    Phileas. 

"Yes." 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  203 

"Mrs.  Wilson's  attorney  is  speaking."  For 
the  young  man  sensitively  avoided  pronounc- 
ing unnecessarily  that  name  upon  which 
Isabel  had  early  set  the  seal  of  ridicule. 

"O  Mr.  Fox,  how  do  you  do?"  cried  Isabel; 
and  then  the  girl  began  to  laugh,  a  delightful 
sound  breaking  upon  the  Babel  of  noise, 
confused  and  indistinct,  but  quite  percepti- 
ble,— the  concentrated  roar  and  rush  of  a 
city  buzzing  through  the  instrument. 

But  he  wondered  why  she  laughed,  as  the 
maid  had  done  before.  Evidently  mirth  was 
just  then  the  order  of  the  day  in  that  decorous 
household. 

"Why  are  you  laughing?"  he  asked. 

"For  the  same  reason,"  Isabel  answered, 
"that  sent  Ellen  the  housemaid  into  a 
paroxysm.  It  was  because  you  inquired  if 
that  was  Cadwallader  at  the  phone.  The 
dear  old  soul  would  no  more  touch  the  tele- 
phone than  he  would  approach  a  mad  dog. 
He  has  a  particular  horror  of  it,  and  mutters 
and  talks  to  himself  concerning  it.  I  believe 
he  suspects  a  hoodoo  or  something  of  that 
sort.  He  was  quite  disturbed  when  Ellen 
told  him  that  she  had  heard  his  name  called 
through  the  telephone." 

Phileas   laughed    too;     and    then   he   asked 


204  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

in  a  tone  which  he  strove  to  make  strictly 
professional : 

"May  I  come  up  this  afternoon?  I  mean 
will  Mrs.  Wilson  find  it  convenient  to  receive 
me?" 

"I  think  it  is  very  likely,"  replied  the  girl. 
"But  perhaps  I  had  better  find  out  positively. 
Will  you  wait?" 

The  young  man  stood  with  the  receiver 
in  his  hand,  pending  the  return  of  Mrs. 
Wilson's  charming  companion — for  such  he 
considered  her, — and  feeling  that  even  a  little 
chat  over  the  telephone  was  an  agreeable 
interlude  to  the  day's  dull  routine. 

Isabel  returned  almost  immediately. 

"Yes,  she  will  be  glad  to  see  you  this 
afternoon,"  she  announced.  "She  drives  at 
three,  and  will  be  here  by  four  o'clock.  Will 
that  be  convenient?" 

"It  will  suit  me  perfectly." 

Phileas  could  not  ask  her  if  she  would  be 
at  home.  His  business  with  the  house  and 
its  inmates  was  strictly  professional.  But 
Isabel  added,  quite  naturally  and  simply: 

"When  you  come  I  shall  show  you  some 
snapshots  that  I  took  down  at  Staten  Island, 
after  you  left  that  afternoon.  Wasn't  it  a 
perfect  day  there,  and  didn't  you  love  it?" 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  205 

"I  never  enjoyed  anything  so  much," 
Phileas  answered  fervently,  his  spirits  rising 
to  the  highest  pitch  at  the  thought  that  he 
was  to  see  her  that  afternoon,  and  in  a 
pleasant  and  informal  fashion.  For  sometimes 
she  had  not  been  present  at  his  interviews 
with  Mrs.  Wilson;  or,  if  she  had,  the  conversa- 
tion was  chiefly  of  documents  and  other 
professional  details,  which,  though  establish- 
ing an  unusual  intimacy  between  them,  had 
been  somehow  unsatisfactory. 

He  had  not  begun  to  question  himself  very 
closely  as  to  his  sentiments  toward  this  girl, 
with  whom  his  acquaintance  had  been  so 
brief,  and  who,  nevertheless,  interested  him 
in  some  subtle  and  inexplicable  manner.  In 
the  few  leisure  moments  that  occurred  that 
afternoon  (for  the  office  chairs  were  almost 
continually  occupied  now),  he  began  to  indulge 
in  some  very  sage  reflections  as  to  the  im- 
possibility of  a  struggling  attorney's  enter- 
taining sentiments  of  any  serious  nature 
toward  a  young  girl  similarly  situated  with 
regard  to  fortune.  And  the  upshot  of  these 
fine  soliloquies  was  that  he  congratulated 
himself  warmly  upon  the  fact  that  Miss 
Ventnor  presumably  was  penniless,  and  that 
her  position  as  a  companion  placed  her  upon 


206  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

an  equality  with  himself,  which  could  not 
possibly  have  existed  had  she  been  a  daughter 
of  the  house.  From  that  naturally  followed 
some  roseate  visions  as  to  the  way  that  he 
should  carve  out  for  himself,  and  the  self- 
made  position  that  he  should  one  day  have 
to  offer  to  some  one,  whether  it  should  be 
that  delightful  Isabel  or  another. 

Almost  immediately  after  Isabel  had  hung 
up  the  receiver  and  her  melodious  voice  had 
ceased  to  penetrate  his  ear,  the  lawyer  had 
to  give  his  attention  to  the  representative 
of  some  big  corporation  who  was  offering  him 
a  lucrative  case,  and  one  which,  perhaps, 
promised  him  the  long-sought  opportunity  to 
display  in  court  his  natural  eloquence,  and 
so  rise  a  rung  or  two  higher  upon  that  ladder 
he  was  so  surely,  if  slowly,  ascending. 

As  he  conferred  with  this  magnate  of  affairs, 
the  young  man's  face  was  so  keen,  his  sugges- 
tions so  far-reaching  and  practical,  that  none 
would  have  imagined  him  the  same  young 
gentleman  who  had  been  so  lately  enshrouded 
by  rosy  visions,  and  inhabiting  a  morning 
land  filled  by  a  gracious,  feminine  personality. 

He  was  very  punctual  at  Mrs.  Wilson's; 
and  this  time  he  was  ushered,  not  into  the 
library,  but  into  the  drawing-room,  a  long 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  207 

and  portentously  stately  apartment,  where 
Mrs.  Wilson  sat  enthroned,  as  it  were,  in  a 
huge  armchair.  Some  influence  besides  the 
trees  nodding  in  at  the  window  had  been 
at  work  to  transform  the  end  of  the  room, 
where  the  lady  of  the  house  was  seated,  into 
a  cheerful  and  homelike  spot.  Some  palms 
were  grouped  about;  some  flowers  stood  upon 
a  table,  where  was  also  a  sprinkling  of  books. 
A  cheerful  water-color  or  two  upon  the  walls 
enlivened  the  austerity  of  the  room,  and  re- 
lieved the  almost  oppressive  grandeur  in  the 
appointments. 

Isabel  sat  there,  in  a  gown  of  the  filmiest 
and  softest  of  organdies,  with  a  ribbon  belt, 
a  fall  of  lace  from  sleeves  and  shoulders,  and 
a  touch  of  black  velvet  that  accentuated  the 
daintiness  of  the  costume.  That  was  another 
of  her  charms,  Phileas  thought, — perfection 
of  costume. 

"Before  you  and  Mr.  Fox  proceed  to 
business,"  said  Isabel,  "I  want  to  show  the 
snapshots  I  took  at  Staten  Island." 

"Yes,  yes!"  assented  Mrs.  Wilson.  "They 
are  really  very  good,  I  think,  for  an  amateur." 

"Mrs.  Wilson  has  a  true  early  Victorian  dis- 
regard for  amateur  efforts  in  all  directions," 
laughed  Isabel,  producing  a  bunch  of  photo- 


208  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

graphs  and  offering  them  one  by  one  to  the 
lawyer  who  had  taken  a  seat  beside  her;  and 
once  more  the  latter  could  not  help  admiring 
the  slender  brown  fingers,  that  yet  looked  so 
capable.  "  I  was  sorry  you  had  gone,"  observed 
the  girl,  "or  I  might  also  have  taken  some  of 
you,  my  fellow-pilgrim  in  that  lovely  region." 

"I  only  wish  I  had  known,  and  I  would 
willingly  have  waited  for  the  next  boat," 
Phileas  responded. 

"You  escaped  something,  I  am  sure," 
laughed  Mrs.  Wilson;  "for  you  would  have 
run  the  risk  at  least  of  being  caricatured." 

"My  appearance  might  lend  itself  to  that 
style  of  art,"  said  Phileas. 

But  Mrs.  Wilson  disagreed  with  him  mentally. 
The  hair,  the  face,  she  reflected,  were  certainly 
not  prepossessing  in  the  point  of  mere  beauty; 
but  there  was  about  the  young  man  in  general 
a  look  of  mental  as  well  as  physical  strength, 
and  a  frankness  and  geniality  of  expression, 
that  were  far  from  displeasing.  What  Isabel 
thought  could  not  be  so  easily  predicted. 
She  was,  for  one  thing,  a  less  experienced 
observer. 

"You  are  quite  too  modest,"  the  elder 
woman  said  graciously;  "but  that  modesty 
has  the  attraction  of  rarity." 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  209 

Isabel  made  no  remark,  but  continued  to 
show  the  various  snapshots  she  had  taken. 
They  reproduced  the  house  where  she  had 
been  visiting,  and  glimpses  of  the  bay,  and 
the  green  and  shaded  road  by  which  the 
two  had  walked.  Isabel  herself  had  been 
photographed  by  her  hostess  in  more  than 
one  attitude.  But,  as  it  had  been,  of  course, 
impossible  to  catch  the  shimmering  light,  with 
the  alternations  of  shadow,  the  waving  of 
the  branches,  the  glow  upon  the  water,  all 
of  which  had  made  up  that  enchanting  land- 
scape, just  so  Phileas  thought  it  had  been 
impossible  to  convey  by  cold  print  the 
attractiveness  of  his  companion,  the  peculiar 
quality  of  humor  and  of  sympathy  that  she 
possessed,  and  her  absolutely  natural  and 
unaffected  manner.  He  glanced  quickly  at 
the  face  which  Isabel  was  bending  over  her 
snapshots,  and  caught  that  smile  about  the  lips 
and  in  the  eyes  that  provoked  an  answering  one. 

At  the  end  of  a  pleasant  half  hour  Isabel 
rose,  saying: 

"But  I  am  not  going  to  keep  you  and  Mrs. 
Wilson  from  your  business  conversation." 

"There  is  no  great  hurry,  my  dear!"  said 
the  old  woman  graciously. 

The     lawyer,     by     an     involuntary     look, 


210  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

seconded  the  remonstrance;  even  though  he 
had  to  catch  the  evening  boat,  and  had 
therefore  but  little  time  to  spare,  since  he 
had  a  few  preparations  to  make,  and  a 
hasty  meal  to  snatch  in  the  interval. 

Isabel  was  not  to  be  moved  by  the  one 
appeal  nor  the  other,  though  she  had  equally 
understood  both. 

"The  time  of  your  learned  counsel  is  too 
precious  to  be  wasted,"  she  said  lightly. 

"Rather  these  moments  are  too  precious 
to  be  lost,"  Phileas  ventured,  in  a  slightly 
lowered  tone,  which,  nevertheless,  caught  Mrs. 
Wilson's  phenomenally  acute  hearing,  and 
amused  her. 

"The  boy  is  already  beginning  to  make 
pretty  speeches,"  she  thought.  "Evidently 
Isabel  and  he  are  quite  en  rapport.  It  will 
amuse  her,  she  has  such  a  dull  existence  here. 
And  as  for  our  little  lawyer — " 

The  thought  remained  unfinished;  and  Isabel, 
with  a  bright  parting  smile  at  Phileas,  which 
he  carried  away  with  him  to  Boston,  slipped 
out  of  a  door  near  where  she  had  been  sitting, 
closing  it  softly  after  her.  When  Mrs.  Wilson 
turned  again  toward  her  attorney,  it  was 
the  keen,  lawyer-like  expression  which  she 
encountered. 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  211 

"I  wanted  to  see  you  particularly,"  the 
young  man  explained,  "because  I  think  of 
leaving  for  Boston  to-night." 

"For  Boston?  Indeed!"  exclaimed  the  old 
lady,  politely  interested. 

"I  am  going  there,"  the  lawyer  added,  "in 
pursuit  of  what  seems  to  be  a  clue." 

Mrs.  Wilson's  face  became  alight  with 
interest,  though  Phileas  noted  that  it  was 
looking  unwontedly  gray  and  old  that 
afternoon. 

"A  clue,"  she  repeated,  "to — to  the  dis- 
covery we  are  so  anxious  to  make?" 

Phileas  nodded,  and  went  on: 

"And,  if  you  will  allow  me,  I  will  place 
before  you  the  reasons  for  my  present  course 
of  action." 

In  a  few  brief  but  graphic  sentences  he 
made  her  acquainted  with  all  that  had  most 
recently  occurred, — his  interviews  with  the 
lodging-house  keeper,  and  his  excursion  to 
Westchester.  The  mention  of  that  lovely 
though  isolated  dwelling  affected  the  listener 
powerfully.  A  mortal  paleness  overspread  her 
features.  She  spoke  with  effort,  controlling 
what  was  evidently  a  painful  emotion. 

"Your  clue,"  she  declared  when  the  lawyer 
had  finished,  "I  am  almost  certain  is  a 


212  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

valuable  one.  To  just  such  a  place  as  you 
describe  John  Vorst  brought  me  as  a  bride. 
I  had  a  singular  love  for  it,  and  we  often 
retired  there  for  rest  from  the  turmoil  of 
city  life.  Once,  in  a  fit  of  perversity,  I  left 
him  alone  there  and  came  into  town.  He 
closed  the  house  immediately,  and  he  never 
asked  me  to  return  thither,  and  I  was  too 
proud  to  express  my  real  preference  for  the 
spot." 

Upon  another  point  in  his  narrative  Mrs. 
Wilson  was  enabled  to  throw  some  light. 

"That  man,  that  ugly  customer,  whom  you 
describe  as  dogging  your  footsteps,"  she  said, 
"and  persecuting  Mr.  Vorst,  may  very  well 
be  a  certain  William  Gross,  who  was  once 
in  my  husband's  employ  and  dismissed  for 
misconduct  of  some  sort." 

"That  was  not  the  name  mentioned  by  the 
lodging-house  keeper,"  objected  the  lawyer. 
"But  it  is  true  she  suggested  that  he  might 
have  been  passing  under  the  alias  of  Jason 
Trowbridge." 

Mrs.  Wilson,  after  asking  a  few  details  of 
the  miscreant's  appearance,  declared  her  con- 
viction of  his  identity  with  the  person  known 
as  Gross,  who  had  been  suspected  of  theft, 
and  had,  moreover,  been  discovered  on  various 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  213 

occasions  prying  into  Mr.  Vorst's  private 
papers. 

"He  is  a  dangerous  creature,"  said  the  old 
lady  emphatically;  "and  I  warn  you  to  have 
a  care  of  him." 

Then  she  inquired  after  what  manner 
Phileas  proposed  to  proceed  upon  arriving  in 
Boston.  The  young  man  reminded  her  that 
he  had  obtained  the  address  of  the  hotel 
whither  the  gentleman  from  Westchester  had 
presumably  gone;  and  that  he  had  a  further 
resource  in  the  information,  casually  obtained 
by  inquiry  at  the  college  in  Sixteenth  Street, 
that  the  priest  who  had  been  on  friendly  terms 
with  Mrs.  O'Rourke's  lodger,  and  whom  Susan 
had  mentioned  as  Father  Driscoll,  had  gone 
to  the  New  England  metropolis. 

Mrs.  Wilson  agreed  with  the  lawyer  in 
believing  that  this  might  have  been  an  addi- 
tional reason  why  Mr.  Vorst,  supposing  him 
to  be  identical  with  the  lodger  and  the  mys- 
terious tenant  of  the  Westchester  dwelling, 
had  chosen  Boston  as  his  latest  place  of 
refuge. 

Phileas  finally  begged  of  his  client  to  furnish 
him  with  as  accurate  a  description  as  possible 
of  the  appearance  of  her  former  husband, 
and  with  any  other  circumstances  that  might 


214  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

lead  to  his  identification.  The  old  woman 
hesitated  painfully,  pondering  with  her  head 
upon  her  hand.  Then  she  said: 

"If  you  will  give  me  your  arm,  Mr.  Fox, 
so  that  I  shall  not  be  under  the  necessity  of 
summoning  Cadwallader,  I  think  I  shall  permit 
you  to  see  what  few  eyes  except  my  own  have 
looked  upon.  And,"  she  added,  "you  will 
understand  that  Isabel  is  entirely  ignorant  of 
the  existence  of  what  I  am  about  to  show  you. 
It  is,  in  fact,  a  portrait  of  John  Vorst." 

Phileas  silently  offered  his  arm,  upon  which 
Mrs.  Wilson  leaned  heavily ;  and  thus  the  two 
passed  into  a  small  boudoir-like  apartment, 
the  door  of  which  was  opened  by  a  key  that 
the  old  woman  wore  on  her  watch  chain. 
The  light  therein  was  so  dim  that  the  young 
man  could  not  at  first  distinguish  any  object. 
Mrs.  Wilson  sank  into  a  sofa  which  occupied 
one  corner  of  this  secret  recess;  and,  pointing 
to  a  stained-glass  window  that  Phileas  could 
discern  as  directly  facing  the  entrance  door, 
she  exclaimed: 

"Pull  that  string  which  you  see  hanging 
there,  and  the  window  will  open!" 

He  did  so;  and  a  stream  of  light,  when  the 
window  had  swung  partially  open,  discovered 
two  portraits  hanging  side  by  side,  One  was 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  215 

that  of  a  young  man  very  modishly  attired  in 
the  fashion  of  half  a  century  before,  with  a 
strongly  marked  and  exceedingly  aristocratic 
face,  and  an  almost  classical  purity  of  contour. 
Close  beside  it  was  the  counterfeit  presentment 
of  a  young  girl,  slender  of  figure,  with  a  con- 
spicuous distinction  of  bearing;  and  in  the 
delicate,  cameo-like  features  (the  very  qualities 
that  had  led  to  the  wreck  of  two  lives)  Phileas 
could  recognize,  in  the  first  hasty  glance, 
identity  with  the  lineaments  that  were  now 
obscured  by  old  age  and  by  the  lines  that  life 
had  inscribed  upon  that  youthful  visage. 

"This  portrait  on  the  left  is  what  I  was; 
the  other  is,  of  course,  John  Vorst  as  he 
appeared  at  the  time  of  our  marriage." 

Phileas  gazed  awestruck  at  the  pictures. 
It  was  a  fearful  contrast  between  the  slim, 
girlish  figure,  in  the  full  pride  of  life,  of  youth, 
and  the  shrunken  old  woman  who  was  so 
obviously  descending  into  the  valley  of  the 
shadow.  It  was  a  cruel  presentment  of  that 
truth  forever  present  to  the  aged,  and  dimly 
apprehended  at  certain  seasons  by  the  young. 

"Of  course,"  remarked  Mrs.  Wilson,  in  a 
voice  that  sounded  tremulous  with  emotion, 
"it  is  a  very  long  time  since  that  portrait 
of  him  was  taken;  but  still  I  feel  sure  that  it 


216  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

will  help  in  the  work  of  identification.  Men 
wear  so  much  better  than  do  our  sex." 

Phileas  studied  intently  every  pictured 
detail,  agreeing  with  Mrs.  Wilson  that  he 
would  probably  find  material  assistance  in 
the  work  of  identification  from  his  recollection 
of  this  portrait.  His  prevailing  sentiment 
toward  the  woman  herself  during  that  singu- 
lar interview  was  a  poignant  pity.  The  wreck 
she  had  made  of  her  own  life  and  that  of 
another  must  be  so  agonizingly  apparent  to 
her  lonely  old  age,  where  her  pride  and  folly, 
coupled  with  a  perverse  and  reckless  wicked- 
ness, had  borne  their  fruit.  As  he  glanced 
from  time  to  time  at  his  client,  the  intolerant 
judgment  youth  and  inexperience  are  apt  to 
pass  upon  the  guilty  was  softened  into  a 
feeling  of  compassion,  which  is,  after  all,  the 
safest  and  most  consistent  attitude  that  one 
mortal  can  assume  toward  another. 

"Here,"  said  Mrs.  Wilson  in  a  low  voice, 
"I  have  spent  many  hours  of  expiation.  Here, 
a  forlorn  old  woman,  I  have  looked  back  upon 
the  past,  and  called  upon  the  mountains  to 
crush  me.  I  have  eaten  out  my  heart  in 
unavailing  penitence  and  remorse." 

Phileas  knew  not  what  to  say,  and  so  re- 
mained respectfully  silent.  She  went  on: 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  217 

"You  are  young,  Mr.  Fox,  and  I  suppose 
happy;  and  you  can  not  guess  the  depth  of 
suffering  and  humiliation,  the  stern  and  poig- 
nant punishment,  that  was  all  too  swiftly 
meted  out  to  me.  If  you  could,  your  judg- 
ment, believe  me,  would  not  be  too  severe." 

She  looked  up,  as  she  spoke,  to  the  young 
man  towering  above  her  in  his  six  feet  of 
honest  young  manhood,  and  clothed  in  that 
righteousness  that  made  him  seem  almost 
as  an  avenging  deity.  He  looked  down 
gravely  and  pityingly,  with  eyes  in  which 
there  was  a  touch  of  tenderness  such  as  he 
might  have  shown  to  a  wounded  animal. 

"Who  is  there  that  can  judge  another?"  he 
said  at  last.  "And  you  have  been  sorely  tried." 

Mrs.  Wilson  covered  her  face,  for  a  moment, 
with  her  two  withered  and  skeleton-like  hands. 
The  touch  of  sympathy  had  drawn  from  her 
a  few  reluctant  and  scalding  tears.  The  young 
lawyer  often  thought  of  that  interview  after- 
ward, and  of  the  further  discourse  he  had 
held  with  that  proud  woman,  humbled,  softened, 
opening  for  a  brief  moment  the  inmost  recesses 
of  her  nature  in  presence  of  that  representa- 
tion of  her  own  youth  and  of  the  man  who 
had  been  her  lover. 

At  her  suggestion,  they  withdrew  from  that 


ai8  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

room  of  haunting  memory,  to  the  library, 
where  the  lawyer  read  over  to  her  his  notes 
of  the  case  in  so  far  as  he  had  mastered  it, — 
the  claim  of  John  Vorst  and  his  heirs,  the 
still  missing  links  in  the  chain  of  evidence. 
To  all  this  Mrs.  Wilson  listened  with  eager 
attention,  making  but  few  corrections,  and 
signing  her  name  whenever  it  was  necessary. 
Then,  with  a  pitiful  eagerness  that  all  should 
be  concluded,  she  caused  him  to  write  out  a 
document  expressing  her  desire  for  restitution, 
and  confessing  that  she  recognized  the  justice 
of  John  Vorst 's  claim  and  believed  in  the 
existence  of  a  prior  will.  Phileas  noticed 
that  she  looked  very  frail  when  all  had  been 
accomplished.  The  mental  exertion  through 
which  she  had  passed,  and  the  emotions 
which  had  been  excited,  had  apparently  aged 
and  exhausted  her.  When  the  young  attorney 
rose  to  go,  she  held  out  her  hand  and  retained 
that  of  her  adviser  in  a  momentary  pressure. 
"You  have  been  very  kind,"  she  said,  "and 
I  feel  that  I  can  trust  everything  to  you. 
You  will  hurry  the  matter  through  as  much 
as  possible;  life  is  so  uncertain,  and  at  the 
best  I  have  but  little  time.  Oh,  may  a  merci- 
ful God  hear  my  prayer,  and  permit  me  to 
repair  this  injustice  before  I  leave  this  life! 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  219 

When  you  come  back  again,  I  must  remember 
to  tell  you  about  Isabel.  But  you  had  better 
not  wait  now,  lest  you  might  lose  your  boat. 
Catch  that  boat,  Mr.  Fox, — I  beg  of  you  to 
catch  that  boat." 

The  name  of  Isabel  thrilled  Phileas,  coming 
into  the  solemnity  of  that  hour  as  a  beam 
of  light;  and  he  would  gladly  have  lingered 
to  hear  what  it  might  be  that  his  client  had  to 
tell.  But  he  saw  that  her  thoughts  had  gone 
before  him  to  the  Eastern  metropolis,  where 
he  hoped  to  discover  the  missing  defendant; 
and  he  knew,  besides,  that  she  was  exhausted. 
He  also  agreed  with  her  that  he  might  have 
difficulty  even  then  in  catching  the  evening 
boat.  He  therefore  took  his  leave  at  once. 

As  Mr.  Fox  hastened  out  through  the  park- 
like  enclosure,  more  beautiful  than  ever  in 
its  greenness,  and  in  its  air  of  mystery  and 
seclusion,  which  shut  it  off  from  its  unsavory 
surroundings,  he  caught  the  distant  sound 
of  Isabel's  voice,  fresh  and  pure,  singing. 
Tantalizingly  the  parrot,  spurred  on  by  the 
sound,  also  raised  its  discordant  tones,  with  its 
everlasting  cry  of  "John  Vorst!  John  Vorst!" 

"Yes,  that  is  it,"  Phileas  reflected.  "Nothing 
else  but  John  Vorst  must  occupy  my  thoughts 
till  all  this  affair  is  settled." 


XVI. 

FORTUNATELY,  Phileas  did  catch  the 
evening  boat,  deciding  to  take  his 
supper  on  board;  and,  as  the  dark- 
ness settled  down  like  a  pall  over  the  face 
of  the  waters,  he  sat  upon  the  deck,  watching 
the  huge  leviathan  of  a  steamer  churning  its 
way,  with  dashing  of  foam  and  whirring  of 
machinery.  Light  talk  and  laughter  sounded 
from  the  various  groups  around  him,  or  came 
forth  from  the  brilliantly  lighted  saloon,  until 
gradually,  as  it  grew  late,  the  groups  dispersed 
and  the  apartment  became  almost  porten- 
tously still. 

The  young  lawyer  was  now  left  in  solitary 
possession  of  the  deck,  smoking  his  cigar, 
and  letting  his  thoughts  wander  over  the 
whole  range  of  impressions  that  had  been 
stamped  upon  his  mind  during  the  recent 
weeks.  Above  his  head,  in  the  clear  blue  of 
the  firmament,  the  Northern  Crown  and 
Bootes,  the  Herdsman,  disputed  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  heavens  with  the  Dipper  and 
the  princely  Orion.  Their  radiance  seemed 
fairly  dazzling  in  that  bright  arc,  thickly 
crowded  with  those  constellations  which,  by 

320 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  221 

the  quaint  symbolism  of  their  names,  recall 
the  dawn  of  the  world's  history. 

It  was  very  late  indeed  when  Phileas 
abandoned  that  peaceful  scene  and  the  soft 
lulling  of  the  waters,  for  his  cabin,  where 
a  fellow  traveller  was  already  sleeping  the 
sleep  of  the  weary.  The  early  morn  found 
the  energetic  lawyer  astir,  and  hastening  to 
the  deck  to  watch  the  steamer  ploughing 
through  the  harbor  of  Tea  Party  fame,  and 
the  crowd  of  hurrying  people.  They  included 
every  class  and  condition,  from  the  commercial 
traveller,  genial,  bumptious,  endlessly  loqua- 
cious, or  grim  and  taciturn,  to  the  merchant 
prince  whose  family  had  long  since  ensconced 
themselves  at  Newport  or  elsewhere,  and  who 
was  running  down  to  Boston  for  the  mere 
pleasure  of  the  sail;  belonging  for  the  most 
part,  however,  to  the  varied  and  often  non- 
descript company  of  tourists,  voluble,  anxious 
and  ardent  in  the  pursuit  of  sight-seeing. 

Phileas,  who  had  but  little  luggage  and 
consequently  no  anxiety,  observed  them  all, 
as  he  waited,  with  the  closeness  of  attention 
that  his  profession  fostered,  until  presently 
the  vessel  came  to  anchor  with  a  prodigious 
straining  and  creaking,  a  whistling  and 
shrieking;  and  before  him  lay  the  city,  which 


222  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

is  perhaps  the  most  historic  within  the  radius 
of  the  Northern  States.  There  the  pale  ghosts 
of  the  Puritans  seem  to  stalk,  marvelling  at 
modern  progress;  the  quiet  and  peaceful 
Quakers  appear  to  glide  through  the  winding 
streets,  where  frequently  they  underwent 
persecution,  and  where,  in  common  with 
other  strange  sectaries  and  the  witches,  ghastly 
victims  of  superstition,  they  endured  unde- 
served torments.  The  Colonial  governors,  the 
Revolutionary  worthies,  and  the  tribesmen 
of  old  Massasoit  still  haunt  the  shores  and 
inhabit  the  thoroughfares,  now  given  over 
to  the  rush  and  bustle  of  commerce. 

Phileas  registered  at  a  hotel  which  has 
been  identified  with  the  growth  of  the  me- 
tropolis; and  after  breakfast  set  forth  to 
seek  that  secluded  spot  where  he  hoped  to 
find  the  widow's  mysterious  lodger.  The 
lawyer  was  tolerably  well  acquainted  with 
the  Puritan  city,  and  admired,  as  he  went, 
the  Common,  oasis  of  verdure,  and  Beacon 
Street,  where  the  magnates  of  the  East  India 
Company  and  other  commercial  potentates 
had  set  up  their  palatial  residence. 

He  discovered  without  much  trouble  that 
quiet  hostelry,  where  a  gentleman  answering 
to  the  lawyer's  description  had  taken  up  his 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  223 

abode  some  weeks  previously,  but,  as  the 
clerk  added  with  a  touch  of  resentment, 
without  registering.  He  was  elderly,  he  led 
a  retired  life,  he  saw  no  visitors.  Phileas 
suggested  that  he  would  like  to  send  up  his 
card,  but  the  official  behind  the  desk  was 
inexorable.  The  orders  from  No.  48  were 
to  admit  no  callers,  and  those  orders  should 
be  obeyed.  Phileas  was  baffled  for  the 
moment;  but,  by  a  happy  inspiration,  he 
resolved  to  make  his  way  to  Father  Driscoll, 
and  see  what  assistance  he  could  lend.  Putting 
on  his  hat,  he  took  a  trolley  to  the  magnificent 
church  where  the  priest  from  New  York  was 
now  stationed.  He  was  fortunate  enough  to 
find  him  at  home. 

He  was  a  gray-haired,  rugged-featured  man, 
considerably  above  the  average  height,  with 
a  genial  manner,  an  all-pervading  atmosphere 
of  common-sense,  and  a  particularly  clear 
judgment.  He  heard  Phileas'  story  to  the 
end,  measuring  him  meantime  with  that  keen 
insight  into  the  character  of  others  that 
becomes  almost  a  sixth  sense. 

"I  am  sorry,"  he  said  quietly,  "that  you 
did  not  bring  me  an  introductory  line  from 
Father  Van  Buren,  which  would  have  made 
assurance  doubly  sure.  But  I  am  going  to 


224  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

take  it  upon  myself,  Mr.  Fox,  to  introduce 
you  as  an  old  pupil  of  one  of  our  colleges,  and 
as  a  friend  of  Father  Van  Buren.  And,"  he 
added  half  jestingly,  "I  hope  you  will  do 
nothing  to  discredit  me." 

Phileas  met  him  eye  to  eye,  thus  giving 
the  experienced  director  of  souls  an  assurance 
stronger  than  any  spoken  pledges. 

"Just  let  me  have  one  of  your  cards,"  he 
said,  "and  I  will  write  a  line  upon  it." 

He  did  so;  and  almost  immediately  after- 
ward Phileas  rose  to  take  his  leave,  having 
asked  no  questions  and  solicited  no  informa- 
tion which  the  priest  might  have  preferred 
to  withhold. 

"I  shall  be  glad  to  see  you  again,"  Father 
Driscoll  said  cordially;  "that  is,  if  you  have 
a  few  minutes  to  spare;  and  if  not,  I  shall 
be  anxious  to  hear  how  your  business  has 
progressed." 

That  interview,  brief  as  it  was,  had  estab- 
lished an  unusual  friendliness  of  feeling 
between  the  young  man  and  the  old,  and 
their  hand-shake  was  a  warm  one.  The 
lawyer  returned  to  the  modest  hostelry  in 
that  quiet  neighborhood,  where  birds  sang 
and  trees  waved  as  if  forgetful  of  the  rush 
of  city  life  so  near.  Early  in  the  afternoon, 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  225 

Phileas  sent  up  the  card  upon  which  the  priest 
had  penciled  a  few  words.  He  waited  in  a 
very  fever  of  suspense  for  the  result  of  his 
application,  and  could  scarcely  control  his 
impatience  when  after  a  few  moments  he  saw 
the  bell-boy  leisurely  advancing  toward  him. 

"The  gentleman  in  No.  48  will  see  you," 
he  announced  briefly;  "and  you're  to  go  up." 

Phileas  felt  his  heart  beating  almost  to 
suffocation,  so  momentous  did  he  realize  that 
interview  and  its  results  to  be.  Interest, 
curiosity  were,  moreover,  excited  to  an  almost 
intolerable  degree.  He  made  an  effort  to 
gain  a  full  command  of  his  faculties  before 
he  followed  the  bell-boy  to  the  elevator  and 
into  a  corridor  bordered  on  either  side  by 
a  row  of  precisely  similar  doors.  At  one  of 
these,  which  stood  in  about  the  centre,  the 
boy  knocked.  On  receiving  the  summons  to 
enter,  he  ushered  Phileas  into  the  apartment, 
not  without  an  evident  lingering  of  curiosity 
concerning  the  unusual  circumstance  of  a 
visitor  being  admitted. 

With  an  emotion  that  caused  his  face  to 
pale  and  his  pulses  to  beat,  the  lawyer  beheld 
seated  in  an  armchair,  close  to  the  window, 
an  old  man  of  an  appearance  so  distinguished 
as  to  seem  out  of  place  in  that  small  and 


226  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

narrow  apartment.  He  could  easily  have  im- 
agined him  presiding  on  the  bench,  filling  a 
gubernatorial  chair,  or  in  any  other  position 
of  distinction.  But  the  impression  that  he 
made  upon  Phileas  was  deepened  by  the  fact 
that  the  latter  never  had  any  doubt  from 
the  first  that  here  was  the  hero  in  that  old 
romance,  the  husband  of  the  imperious 
mistress  of  the  Monroe  Street  mansion,  and 
the  defendant  in  the  celebrated  suit.  Nor 
was  it  alone  the  resemblance  to  the  portrait 
which  produced  that  conviction,  since  it  did 
not  so  instantaneously  seize  him,  but  grad- 
ually grew  from  his  study  of  the  face  before 
him. 

As  Phileas  stood  stunned,  bewildered  as 
it  were,  by  the  prospect  of  that  success  in 
his  quest  which  he  felt  was  at  hand,  the  old 
man  spoke.  His  voice  was  singularly  har- 
monious, with  a  tone  and  accent  that  belonged 
to  a  more  tranquil  and  possibly  a  more  formal 
era  than  our  own,  when  there  was  time  to 
pronounce  the  syllables.  He  extended  to  his 
visitor  a  shapely  and  well -cared -for  hand, 
which  Phileas  took  with  a  deference  that 
well  became  him,  and  elicited  a  mental  note 
of  approbation  from  the  other. 

"I  must  apologize,  Mr.  Fox,"  he  said,  "for 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  227 

the  seeming  discourtesy  of  my  attitude.  I  am 
just  enough  of  an  invalid  to  make  motion 
at  times  irksome." 

"I  should  rather  apologize  for  my  intru- 
sion," Phileas  replied  readily,  "only  that  it 
is  justified  by  a  grave  necessity." 

"Any  one  introduced  by  Father  Driscoll 
is  welcome,"  said  the  other,  courteously; 
"though,  as  perhaps  he  has  told  you,  my 
visiting  list  under  present  circumstances  is 
necessarily  limited." 

The  smile  with  which  these  words  were 
uttered  was  singularly  winning,  and  the 
lawyer  could  well  understand  the  figure  which 
this  man  must  have  cut  in  his  youth.  In 
the  still  noble  physique  were  traces  of  that 
rare  beauty  which  had  been  manifest  in  the 
portrait,  and  which  detracted  nothing  from 
a  dignified  manliness.  There  was  an  ease 
and  grace  in  the  manner  which  betrayed 
an  intimate  association  with  the  highest  circles 
of  society.  This  seemed,  in  fact,  a  relic  of 
the  early  Colonial  days,  when  the  beaux  of 
the  period  were  no  less  famed  for  wit  and 
genial  courtesy  than  for  the  carefulness  of 
their  attire.  One  could  have  fancied  this 
old  man  sitting  there  in  that  obscure  lodging, 
as  Phileas  reflected,  the  associate  of  Aaron 


228  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

Burr,  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  the  Willises 
and  the  D'Orsays. 

As  there  was  ever  so  slight  a  pause  after 
the  last  remark,  the  lawyer  felt  called  upon 
to  explain  the  errand  which  had  brought 
him  thither.  Yet  he  was  conscious  of  all 
the  difficulty  of  approaching  a  painful  subject; 
the  more  so  that  the  exquisite  courtesy  of 
the  older  man  served  as  a  viewless  but 
effectual  barrier  against  any  intrusion  upon 
his  private  feelings. 

"I  will  tell  you  frankly,  sir,"  said  Phileas, 
"that  I  am  at  a  loss  how  to  begin.  The 
matter  which  has  brought  me  here  is  vital, 
but  at  the  same  time  it  opens  up  issues  that 
are  so  painful — 

"Perhaps,"  remarked  the  listener,  who  had 
visibly  started  at  this  preamble,  and  over 
whose  face  had  crept  a  shadow,  "it  might 
be  better  to  leave  them  unopened." 

"Unfortunately,"  said  the  young  man,  "it 
is  imperative  that  you  should  give  me  a 
hearing." 

"Are  you  a  lawyer?"  the  gentleman  inquired. 

Phileas  answered  in  the  affirmative;  and 
the  other  turned  away  toward  the  window, 
as  though  he  would  fain  have  avoided  a  blow. 
After  a  moment  he  observed,  in  a  low  voice: 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  229 

"I  will  hear  what  you  have  to  say.  I  feel 
sure  that  you  will  not  exceed  your  duty." 

"I  must  necessarily  ask  a  question,"  began 
the  attorney,  "which  I  did  not  put  even  to 
Father  Driscoll,  and  which  I  trust  you  will 
not  consider  intrusive,  since  upon  the  answer 
must  depend  all  further  communications  upon 
my  part.  And  perhaps  it  is  only  fair  to  say 
that  I  have  already  anticipated  the  answer." 

"Ask  what  you  will,"  replied  the  old  man, 
with  the  same  air  of  submitting  to  the  in- 
evitable; and  Phileas  paused  to  arrange  the 
form  of  his  inquiry. 

"Am  I  correct  in  assuming,"  he  asked  at 
length,  "that  you  are — the  defendant  in  the 
case  of  Spooner  vs.  Vorst, — that  you  are,  in 
fact,  Mr.  John  Vorst  himself?"' 

It  was  evident  that  the  occupant  of  the 
chair  had  not  expected  so  point-blank  a 
question,  and  for  an  instant  he  seemed  to 
have  lost  his  self-control.  A  mortal  pallor 
overspread  his  features;  he  started  from  his 
reclining  attitude  to  an  erect  position,  and 
cried : 

"By  what  right  do  you  ask  me  such  a 
question?  Upon  what  do  you  base  your 
assumption  as  to  my  identity?" 

"My    right    is    simply    that    of    justice    to 


230  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

yourself  and  others,"  answered  Phileas,  firmly, 
the  strength  of  his  character  suddenly  assert- 
ing itself,  and  to  some  extent  dominating 
the  other.  "And  as  to  my  assumption,  it 
rests  upon  many  small  links  in  a  chain  which 
has  led  me  here,  upon  a  conviction  which 
has  seized  me  since  I  have  come  into  your 
presence,  and  also"  (he  hesitated  an  instant) 
"upon  your  resemblance  to  the  portrait." 

"You  have  seen  the  portrait?"  the  older 
man  exclaimed,  and  there  was  a  startled 
look  upon  his  face  as  of  one  driven  to  bay. 
Then  he  sank  back  into  his  chair,  passing 
his  hand  wearily  over  his  face.  "Am  I  never 
to  be  done  with  that  miserable  case, — never 
to  be  secure  even  in  the  most  obscure  retreat?" 

"Believe  one  thing,  sir,"  interposed  Phileas, 
seizing  upon  the  tacit  admission,  and  speaking 
under  the  influence  of  a  strong  emotion.  "No 
word  nor  act  of  mine  shall  tend  to  your 
annoyance.  I  am  here  altogether  in  the 
interests  of  right  and  justice,  that  old  wrongs 
may  be  righted  and  old  difficulties  adjusted." 

"That  can  scarcely  be,  sir,"  said  the  gentle- 
man, coldly.  "There  are  difficulties  which 
can  not  be  adjusted,  nor,  I  warn  you,  can 
they  be  discussed." 

"But  discussion  is  absolutely  necessary,  Mr. 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  231 

Vorst,"  pleaded  the  lawyer;  "and  I  am  sure 
that  your  sense  of  justice  will  permit  me  to 
make  a  definite  statement  of  much  that  has 
transpired  within  the  past  year.  The  creden- 
tials which  I  have  brought  from  one  in  whom 
you  have  confidence  must  assure  you  that 
not  without  the  gravest  reasons  would  I  have 
intruded  upon  your  privacy.  May  I  speak?" 

The  head  was  once  more  bowed  and  there 
was  a  look  of  distress  upon  the  face,  but  the 
desired  permission  was  given. 

"Let  me  preface  my  statement  of  the  new 
aspect  of  affairs  by  an  announcement  that 
may  possibly  be  new  to  you,"  began  the 
attorney, — "that  the  plaintiff  in  the  case  of 
Spooner  vs.  Vorst  has  become  a  Catholic." 

"She,  Martha,  a  Catholic!"  cried  the  old 
man  in  amazement,  while  wonder  and  in- 
credulity were  written  upon  every  feature. 

"Having  been  received  into  the  Church 
by  Father  Van  Buren  just  one  year  ago,  she 
is  naturally  desirous  of  readjusting  her  business 
affairs." 

The  old  man  looked  steadily  down  at  the 
floor,  and  there  was  a  silence  between  the 
two.  Then  he  said  slowly: 

"Your  statement  is,  indeed,  of  the  gravest 
importance,  and  no  doubt  must  make  a 


232  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

material  difference.  Did  these  business  affairs, 
however,  concern  me  alone,  my  preference 
would  be  to  leave  things  as  they  are.  Per- 
sonally, I  have  but  one  desire — freedom  from 
strife.  But,  since  the  rights  and  interests 
of  others  have  to  be  considered,  I  will  hear 
what  is  proposed." 

In  the  same  attitude  of  weariness,  and 
keeping  a  strained  attention  upon  the  lawyer, 
John  Vorst  listened,  according  a  meed  of 
admiration  to  the  speaker  for  the  brief  and 
well-chosen  words  in  which  he  made  his  state- 
ment, together  with  a  delicacy  that  avoided 
all  needlessly  painful  references.  And  this 
thought  he  expressed  when  Phileas  had 
concluded. 

"The  plaintiff,"  he  said,  "is  fortunate  in 
her  attorney." 

"Who,"  said  Phileas,  laughing  off  the  com- 
pliment, "was  introduced  to  her  by  Father 
Van  Buren  as  a  briefless  young  barrister,  at 
liberty  to  give  unlimited  time  to  her  affairs." 

"I  am  quite  sure  he  had  other  considerations 
in  his  mind  when  he  made  that  recommenda- 
tion," remarked  the  old  man,  courteously; 
"and  as  for  the  briefs,  they  will  not  be  long 
in  coming.  But  to  return  to  the  matter  in 
hand.  You  must  give  me  a  little  time  to 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  233 

adjust  my  mind  to  new  conditions.  Of  course 
it  is  now  unnecessary  to  inform  you  that  I 
am  indeed  John  Vorst.  I  shall  be  most 
happy  to  see  you  again  in  a  day  or  two,  when 
I  have  had  time  to  consider  the  new  aspects 
of  the  case." 

He  outstretched  a  cordial  hand  to  Phileas, 
who,  thus  dismissed,  took  his  leave,  elated 
at  the  progress  he  had  made,  and  promising 
to  call  within  the  week. 


XVII. 

FATHER  DRISCOLL  secured  for  Phileas 
a  notification  to  wait  upon  John  Vorst 
for  a  second  interview.  The  worthy 
priest,  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  pay  a  friendly 
visit  to  the  lawyer  from  New  York,  brought 
the  message  himself  to  the  hotel,  in  the  big 
empty  drawing-room  of  which  the  two  were 
enabled  to  speak  quite  unreservedly.  After 
a  few  moments  of  desultory  conversation, 
during  which  no  allusion  whatever  was  made 
to  the  matter  in  hand,  Phileas  himself  told 
what  had  passed  at  his  interview  with  John 
Vorst;  and  Father  Driscoll  evinced  the  liveli- 
est satisfaction  at  the  prospect  of  an  amicable 
settlement  of  the  long-standing  difficulties. 

"John  Vorst  deserves,"  he  said,  "if  ever 
a  man  deserved,  to  have  a  few  years  of  tran- 
quillity before  his  final  departure.  He  has 
had  such  a  long,  harassing  time  of  it.  And 
I  may  tell  you  that  I  regard  him  as  an  ideal 
layman.  But  what  is  the  next  step  to  be 
taken?" 

"I  should  advise,"  answered  Phileas,  "that 
Mr.  Vorst  return  to  New  York  with  me.  I 
am  quite  satisfied  that  Mrs.  Wilson  is  growing 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  235 

very  feeble,  and  the  sooner  matters  are 
settled  the  better  for  all  parties." 

"I  am  altogether  of  your  way  of  thinking," 
said  the  priest.  "But  can  you  make  the 
necessary  arrangements  for  his  return  in  so 
short  a  time?" 

"I  think  so,"  declared  Phileas.  "I  chance 
to  have  been  brought  into  contact,  profession- 
ally, with  Mr.  Vorst's  former  landlady,  and 
his  room  at  her  house  is  still  vacant.  If  he 
consents,  I  shall  wire  her.  Then  there  need 
not  be  much  delay  in  'fixing  up  things';  for 
Mrs.  Wilson  is  only  too  anxious  for  a  final 
adjustment.  In  fact,  as  a  measure  of  pre- 
caution, and  acting  on  my  advice,  she  signed 
most  of  the  important  papers  before  my 
departure." 

"Good!"  said  Father  Driscoll.  "Then  you 
will  call  upon  Mr.  Vorst  to-day,  as  he  has 
expressed  a  desire  to  see  you.  But,  if  you 
wish,  I  shall  go  to  the  hotel  now  and  prepare 
him  for  your  suggestion." 

"I  shall  be  very  grateful,"  said  Phileas: 
and  he  accompanied  the  priest  to  the  door, 
where  they  stood  a  few  moments,  commenting 
on  the  buildings  and  the  streets  of  the  Puritan 
city. 

Father  Driscoll  said,  in  parting: 


236  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

"You  have  a  good  profession,  my  boy. 
Honor  it  and  it  will  honor  you.  It  needs 
ideals,  you  know;  the  higher  the  better." 
Then  he  added,  softening  the  admonition  by 
a  laugh:  "You  ought  to  change  your  name 
when  you're  dealing  with  honest  men.  I  was 
a  little  afraid  of  you  when  I  glanced  at  your 
card." 

Phileas  was  somewhat  sore  upon  that  point, 
but  he  joined  in  the  laugh. 

"You  will  be  quite  a  rara  avis  then:  an 
honest  lawyer,  and  a  fox  that  is  not  predatory." 

When  Phileas  was  ushered  into  John  Vorst's 
presence  that  afternoon,  he  found  the  old 
gentleman  quite  reconciled  to  the  proposal, 
and  even  anxious  to  return  to  his  old  quarters. 

"That  good  creature,  Susan  O'Rourke,  made 
me  so  comfortable,"  he  said,  "she  quite 
spoiled  me  for  anything  else;  and,  then, 
at  my  age  one  sighs  for  the  old  places  that 
were  familiar  to  one's  youth.  I  don't  know 
precisely  why  that  should  be  so,  Mr.  Fox," 
he  went  on,  reflectively.  "One  place  ought 
to  be  quite  as  good  as  another  to  those  who 
have  almost  finished  the  great  journey.  For, 
wherever  we  are,  the  mighty  pageant — in 
which  we  no  longer  have  part — goes  on  very 
well  without  us.  But  I  suppose  it  is  in  the 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  237 

same  manner  that  we  go  back  to  read  the 
pages  of  a  well-thumbed  volume.  Its  familiar- 
ity is  its  charm." 

It  was  with  evident  reluctance  that  John 
Vorst  entered  upon  the  pecuniary  details  of 
the  approaching  contest. 

"I  will  confess,"  he  said,  "perhaps  to  my 
shame,  that  I  have  never  had  any  great 
aptitude  for  affairs.  It  is  true,  at  one  time 
I  hotly  contested  that  claim, — or,  rather,  my 
counsel  did,"  he  added  with  a  smile.  "But 
that  was  on  abstract  grounds  of  justice,  in 
order  not  to  prove  myself  a  swindler;  and 
also  because  of  a  sentimental  attraction  toward 
that  old  house  in  Monroe  Street,  where  my 
boyhood  had  been  passed.  Moreover,  then, 
as  now,  there  were  others  to  be  considered,— 
a  widowed  sister,  since  dead,  who  has  left 
children.  I  have  never  seen  them,  because 
I  faded  out  of  active  life  before  they  had 
entered  thereupon.  There  is  also  a  brother 
of  mine,  who  has  taken  Holy  Orders  and 
resides  in  England.  For  their  sakes  nothing 
must  be  left  to  chance." 

It  was,  therefore,  agreed  that  Phileas  should 
wire  at  once  to  Mrs.  O'Rourke;  and  that, 
two  days  later,  the  two  men  should  travel 
together  to  New  York. 


238  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

Phileas  Fox  was  fairly  treading  on  air, 
in  the  height  of  his  satisfaction.  That  long 
and  tedious  case,  which  he  had  fancied  might 
stretch  out  interminably,  was  thus  in  the 
way  of  being  settled  almost  immediately.  He 
sent  from  the  office  of  the  hotel  a  wire 
addressed  to  Mrs.  O'Rourke.  It  ran  thus: 

Have  front  parlor  prepared  for  your  old  lodger,  who  returns 
on  Thursday.  PHILEAS  Fox. 

Then  he  went  over  to  the  cathedral,  and 
knelt  in  fervent  prayer  for  the  successful 
issue  of  what  remained  to  be  done.  After 
which  he  permitted  himself  the  luxury  of  a 
carriage,  and  drove  out  to  Mount  Auburn 
and  to  those  other  lovely  suburbs  which  have 
made  Boston  famous. 

His  mind,  relaxed  and  at  rest  somewhat 
from  the  strain  of  anxiety  and  suspense, 
turned  instinctively  to  pleasanter  things;  and 
he  recalled,  amongst  others,  that  trip  to 
Staten  Island  which  he  had  so  recently  made 
with  the  most  charming  girl  in  the  world. 
For  by  this  time  he  had  come  to  regard  Isabel 
in  some  such  light;  and  he  felt  a  real  gratifica- 
tion at  the  thought  that  he  was  so  soon  to 
see  her  again,  and  to  be  brought  into  active 
relation  with  her.  It  occurred  to  him,  with 
a  sudden  sinking  of  his  spirits,  that  the  cessa- 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  239 

tion  of  the  case  would  no  doubt  bring  about 
the  cessation  of  their  intercourse.  Their  ways 
led  so  far  apart;  he  a  briefless  barrister; 
while  she  had  been  brought  up  in  a  wealthy 
and  exclusive  sphere,  to  which  he  in  no  sense 
belonged.  Then,  with  the  optimism  of  youth 
that  gilds  all  things  just  as  the  sun  was  then 
gilding  and  bringing  out  the  iridescent  colors 
of  the  lovely  groups  of  flowers,  he  began  to 
wonder  if  she  were,  after  all,  so  far  removed 
from  him;  or  if  she  would  be  content  in  a 
year  or  two,  or  when  he  had  made  his  way 
somewhat,  to  share  his  fortunes  and  struggle 
upward  at  his  side.  He  smiled  at  the  swiftness 
with  which  his  thoughts  had  gone  forward; 
and,  awaking  from  his  reverie,  he  strove  to 
give  his  whole  attention  to  the  sights  which 
the  driver  was  showing  him. 

That  evening  he  dined  at  the  hotel  with 
John  Vorst;  and,  in  fact,  was  so  much  in  his 
society  during  those  two  days  that  he  felt 
as  if  he  had  known  him  for  years.  On  board 
the  boat  returning  to  New  York,  the  two, 
who  had  been  so  .strangely  brought  into  each 
other's  life,  talked  with  a  freedom  which  is 
not  always  the  result  of  long  acquaintanceship. 
Upon  one  subject  alone  John  Vorst  maintained 
an  inviolable  reserve,  and  that  was  wherever 


240  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

the  plaintiff  in  the  famous  lawsuit  was  con- 
cerned. The  name  of  Martha  Spooner  Wilson 
was  never  so  much  as  mentioned;  the  relation 
in  which  the  two  had  stood  to  each  other, 
the  reason  of  their  separation,  and  all  the 
rest  of  that  tragic  story,  remained  as  a  sealed 
book.  If  he  were  aware  that  the  attorney 
had  been  informed  of  all  those  things,  he 
gave  no  sign.  And  it  was  on  only  one  occasion 
that  he  spoke  of  another  matter  that  was 
dear  to  his  heart — that  religion  which  he 
had  so  faithfully  loved  and  practised  for 
nearly  man's  allotted  span. 

"Our  faith,"  he  said, — "what  a  splendid 
heritage  it  is,  and  how  worthy  the  considera- 
tion of  reasoning  man!  It  meets  us  at  every 
point  during  the  journey  of  our  life,  and  sets 
up  landmarks.  It  controls,  directs,  satisfies 
and  brightens  intellectual  aspirations;  it  feeds 
the  heart.  Enviable  the  young  man  who 
sets  out  in  life  under  the  guidance  of  that 
true  pilot,  that  alone  can  weather  storms." 

They  sat  and  conversed  thus  until  the 
night  was  far  worn.  The  lights  in  the  saloon 
were  lowered,  and  the  groups  had  gradually 
dispersed.  There  was  a  solemnity  there,  under 
the  stars  looking  down  from  a  deep,  calm, 
azure,  where  the  white  clouds  scudded  here 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  241 

and  there  like  wandering  spirits  in  search  of 
a  haven. 

"I  have  often  said  to  myself,"  continued 
the  elder  man,  '"Look  up  at  those  stars  and 
doubt  if  you  can. '  That  sidereal  world  seems 
the  vast  witness  of  truth." 

"And,"  thought  Phileas,  "some  men,  like 
this  one  before  me,  are  likewise  witnesses 
of  truth  in  the  various  positions  which  they 
fill  in  life." 

In  the  early  morning,  the  two  men  break- 
fasted at  a  place  on  Broadway  where  the 
most  delicious  cream-topped  coffee  could  be 
had,  together  with  Vienna  rolls,  crisp,  delicate 
bacon,  strawberries  and  cream.  It  was  an 
enjoyable  meal,  over  which  the  pair  lingered. 
John  Vorst  rejoiced  at  being  back  once  more 
in  the  city  which  he  had  known  and  loved. 

"I  have  been  a  traveller  in  my  time,  Mr. 
Fox,"  he  said;  "but  I  am  always  well  content 
to  find  myself  in  this  curious,  cosmopolitan 
thoroughfare,  which  boasts  no  beauty,  and 
which,  with  its  feverish  bustle  and  haste, 
is  unendurable  to  the  cursory  observer.  But 
there  are  quiet  portions  of  Manhattan,  where 
tranquillity  is  almost  as  obtainable  as  in 
the  country;  and  I  see  it,  besides,  through 
the  glamor  of  years.  I  fancy  myself  once 


242  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

more  thrilling  at  thought  of  exhibiting  my 
new  topcoat  or  beaver,  my  patent-leather 
boots,  or  any  other  article  of  finery,  on  the 
avenue  of  a  Sunday  morning.  I  always  see 
Broadway  as  I  first  consciously  remember 
it  half  a  century  ago." 

When  Phileas  rang  the  bell  at  Mrs.  O'Rourke's 
door,  it  was  opened  by  Susan  herself.  Her 
face  was  fairly  beaming,  though  her  eyes 
were  streaming  with  tears.  Every  trace  of 
care,  of  weariness  or  of  cynical  doubt,  was 
momentarily  gone. 

"You  see  I  have  brought  him  back  to  you!" 
exclaimed  Phileas,  indicating  his  companion. 

"And  may  God  in  heaven  bless  you  for 
that  same!"  answered  Susan. 

To  her  late  lodger,  who  was  somewhat 
slower  in  reaching  the  upper  step,  she  began 
a  series  of  curtsies,  as  though  the  newly- 
arrived  had  been  her  feudal  lord  and  she  his 
tenant  at  will. 

"Is  it  yourself,   sir?"  she  cried. 

"It  is  indeed,  Mrs.  O'Rourke,"  replied  Mr. 
Vorst,  with  corresponding  warmth,  and  seizing 
the  toil-roughened  hand  of  the  landlady  in 
a  cordial  grip.  "I'm  glad  to  see  you  again." 

"And   I'm   as   proud   and   glad   as — 

She  could  find  no  apposite  comparison,   so 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  243 

she  left  her  sentence  unfinished,  and  fell  to 
wiping  her  eyes  with  her  apron. 

"But  of  course  you  got  Mr.  Fox's  tele- 
gram?" John  Vorst  inquired. 

"I  did  indeed,  sir;  and  here's  your  room 
ready  for  you  just  as  the  day  you  left  it." 

She  threw  open  the  door  of  the  same 
apartment  into  which  upon  a  former  occasion 
she  had  ushered  Phileas,  and  showed  the 
spacious  room,  clean,  well-aired,  and  as  shining 
as  two  days'  good  cleaning  could  make  it. 

"It's  myself  is  glad  to  see  you  in  it  once 
again!"  the  poor  creature  repeated  enthu- 
siastically. 

"You  may  thank  Mr.  Fox  for  that," 
laughed  Mr.  Vorst,  expanding,  under  the 
warmth  of  her  greeting. 

"I  do  thank  him;  and  morning  and  night, 
when  I  go  on  my  knees,  I'll  always  remember 
him  for  that  same,  as  well  as  for  the  kind 
acts  he  did  to  me." 

John  Vorst  turned  a  glance  of  warm 
approval  upon  the  young  attorney. 

"You  must  tell  me  all  about  it,"  he  said 
to  Susan;  "for  you  and  I  both  are  feeling 
very  grateful  to  him." 

"I  can  not  wait  for  that  recital,"  said 
Phileas,  joyously.  He,  too,  was  in  excellent 


244  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

spirits  at  the  result  of  his  journey.  "I  have 
to  get  back  to  sober  life,  and  I  must  not  have 
my  head  turned." 

Phileas,  having  seen  his  new  friend,  for 
whom  he  felt  a  real  attachment  and  a  bound- 
less admiration,  installed  in  his  old  quarters, 
took  the  Subway  down  town  to  his  long- 
neglected  office.  He  threw  open  the  door 
with  a  new  feeling  of  importance;  he  aired 
the  room,  which  had  a  close  smell,  as  though 
it  had  been  long  unused;  he  arranged  the 
chairs  and  tables,  and  dusted  the  folios. 

When  at  last  he  sat  down  at  the  desk,  he 
felt  as  if  he  had  been  dreaming,  and  was  still 
a  briefless  barrister,  with  no  work  to  do  save 
dozing  over  an  imaginary  case.  He  reviewed 
in  swift  succession  all  that  had  taken  place 
since  that  first  day  when  he  took  possession 
of  this  legal  sanctum;  and  his  thoughts 
lingered  oftenest  and  longest  upon  Isabel 
Ventnor.  He  brought  her  image  before  him 
with  a  delight  which  no  longer  left  him  any 
illusion  as  to  his  sentiments  toward  her. 
Her  face,  fresh,  laughing,  yet  mobile  and 
sensitive,  had  a  far  greater  charm  for  him — 
or  so  he  said  to  his  impressionable  heart — 
than  many  a  one  more  perfect  in  coloring  or 
outline.  Her  slender,  well-proportioned  figure, 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  245 

dressed  always  with  that  harmony  of  detail 
that  far  surpasses  costliness  of  material, 
seemed  to  him  the  most  delightful  and  the 
most  attractive  in  the  whole  range  of  fem- 
ininity. He  hoped  that  he  should  see  her 
again  very  soon  and  very  often. 

He  was  roused  from  his  reverie  by  the  open- 
ing of  his  office  door,  and  a  voice  demanding 
if  Mr.  Fox  was  back  yet.  He  answered  that 
question  in  the  affirmative;  and  during  the 
next  few  hours  the  door  continued  to  open 
and  to  admit  an  almost  continuous  stream 
of  people.  They  were  mostly  petty  clients 
such  as  build  up  a  practice.  Each  was, 
however,  in  as  great  a  hurry  as  though  his 
particular  affairs  were  of  paramount  impor- 
tance, and  as  if  it  were  impossible  for  him 
to  wait  an  instant.  Hence  there  was  not  a 
moment  wherein  the  lawyer  found  himself 
free  to  wait  upon  Mrs.  Wilson;  but  he 
decided  that  if  he  did  not  go  thither  that 
evening,  he  would  certainly  go  the  following 
day.  And  the  following  day  he  went  under 
circumstances  which  he  could  not  have 
foreseen. 

It  was  immediately  after  luncheon;  and 
Phileas  had  just  come  in  from  the  crowded 
streets,  hot,  dusty  and  tired,  when  the  tele- 


246  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

phone  rang.  Isabel  Ventnor,  in  a  voice  so 
agitated  as  to  be  barely  recognizable,  asked: 

"Has  Mr.  Fox  returned?" 

"Yes,"  said  Phileas.     "He  is  speaking." 

"For  God's  sake  come  at  once!  Don't 
lose  an  instant.  It  is  Isabel  Ventnor." 

Before  he  could  ask  any  questions  the 
instrument  was  shut  off.  It  took  Phileas 
scarcely  an  appreciable  time  to  reach  the 
street  and  hail  a  passing  cab,  in  which  he 
caused  himself  to  be  bowled  along  at  a 
breakneck  pace  by  the  quietest  ways,  through 
which  there  might  be  the  least  obstruction. 

The  mansion  lay  in  a  sort  of  repose  that 
seemed  more  pronounced  than  usual.  The 
sun  fell  in  long,  slanting  beams  over  the  trees 
where  they  stood  in  their  prim  rows  or  waved 
in  swaying  curves.  Cadwallader,  with  face 
that  was  ashen  gray  and  eyes  rolling  wildly, 
opened  the  door  without  a  word.  He  brought 
the  lawyer  to  the  library.  Phileas  paused, 
spellbound,  upon  the  threshold. 

Isabel,  with  pallid,  terror  -  stricken  face, 
pointed  to  a  figure  in  the  chair, — the  same 
that  had  fascinated  the  young  man  on  the 
opening  of  the  door.  Seated  before  the  table, 
as  he  had  seen  her  last,  her  eyes  wide  open 
and  burning  in  their  sockets,  with  their  un- 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  247 

seeing  gaze  fixed  upon  an  unoccupied  corner 
of  the  room,  was  the  mistress  of  the  man- 
sion. 

Ghastly  in  the  extreme  was  the  appearance 
she  presented.  She  was  clad  in  a  rich  gown 
of  brocade,  and  fairly  ablaze  with  jewels, 
which,  as  Phileas  quickly  surmised,  belonged 
to  the  rows  of  cases  that  he  had  seen  in  the 
safe.  Those  receptacles,  in  fact,  lay  empty 
upon  the  table;  while  their  glittering  contents, 
chiefly  diamonds  in  the  form  of  necklaces, 
tiaras,  bracelets,  rings  and  aigrettes,  had  been 
employed  to  deck  the  shrunken  frame  of 
Mrs.  Wilson.  The  resplendence  of  the  stones 
fairly  dazzled  the  eyes  that  looked  at  them. 
The  lawyer's  glance  wandered  to  the  safe  in 
the  corner,  which  stood  wide  open,  staring 
with  desolate  blankness,  its  long-guarded 
secrets  displayed  to  every  comer.  From  the 
lips  of  the  strangely  bedizened  figure  came 
forth  inarticulate  sounds,  apparently  addressed 
to  some  shadowy  presentment  of  overwrought 
fancy.  It  was  a  singular,  a  weird  scene, 
that  sent  a  shudder  through  the  attorney's 
frame  and  shook  his  healthy  nerves. 

"What  should  we  do?"  inquired  Isabel, 
who,  though  white  to  the  lips,  stood  ready 
for  any  emergency.  "I  thought  it  better 


248  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

to  wait  till  the  doctor  comes  before  making 
any  effort  to  disturb  her." 

"Has  she  been  long  like  this? "  Phileas  asked. 

"I  scarcely  know  myself,"  the  girl  answered. 
"I  went  out,  as  I  often  do,  for  a  walk; 
leaving  Mrs.  Wilson,  apparently  in  her  usual 
health,  taking  her  afternoon  sleep  upon  the 
couch  in  her  own  room.  I  was  not  gone  long; 
and  when  I  came  in  Cadwallader  told  me 
that  she  had  dressed  alone — a  thing  she  never 
does, — and  had  come  downstairs,  also  without 
assistance.  The  Negro  met  her,  and  offered 
his  arm;  but  she  had  passed  him  by  without 
a  word,  walking  very  straight,  as  he  had  not 
seen  her  for  years.  She  had  come  into  the 
library  and  closed  the  door,  so  that  he  had 
been  afraid  to  follow.  Of  course  I  rushed  in 
here  as  soon  as  I  heard  his  story,  and  found 
things  as  you  see  them.  I  tried  to  bring  her 
back  to  consciousness  and  to  make  her  hear 
my  voice,  but  it  was  all  no  use.  I  telephoned 
for  the  priest  and  the  doctor.  Both  were  out, 
but  I  am  expecting  them  every  moment. 
Then  I  thought  of  you,  and  I  thank  you  so 
much  for  coming  promptly." 

"I  wonder,"  said  Phileas,  "if  it  would  be 
better  to  try  to  rouse  her,  or  to  wait  a  little 
longer?" 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  249 

"Perhaps  we  might  try  again,"  declared 
Isabel;  and,  kneeling  down,  she  put  her  arm 
around  the  aged  figure  and  said:  "Don't 
you  know  me,  dear?  It's  Isabel." 

But  the  eyes  looked  past  her  with  the  same 
wild  stare,  and  the  lips  continued  to  murmur 
inaudible  words. 

"Perhaps  if  you  were  to  try?"  said  Isabel; 
and  Phileas,  bending  down,  took  Mrs.  Wilson's 
withered  hand,  now  burning  with  fever,  into 
his  own,  so  cool  and  firm.  He  spoke  very 
distinctly. 

The  unseeing  eyes  were  turned  on  him  an 
instant,  and  the  voice,  thick  and  husky,  and 
altogether  unlike  its  ordinary  clear  enuncia- 
tion, managed  to  form  the  question: 

"Are  you  John  Vorst?" 

"No,"  answered  the  young  man.  "I  am 
your  attorney,  Phileas  Fox." 

For  an  instant  the  face  became  disturbed, 
as  with  some  effort  of  memory;  it  seemed 
as  if  reason  were  struggling  back  into  the 
unnaturally  distended  eyes.  But  the  expres- 
sion almost  instantaneously  faded,  though  the 
hand  rested  in  the  cool,  strong  grasp. 

"Are  you  tired,  Mrs.  Wilson?"  asked  Phileas, 
soothingly. 

The    genuine    pity    and    tenderness    in    the 


250  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

tone  fell  gratefully  upon  Isabel's  ear.  It 
likewise  seemed  to  please  the  delirious  patient, 
whose  gaze  became  less  unnatural,  while 
something  like  a  smile  hovered  about  the 
lips. 

"If  we  could  get  her  upstairs  it  might  be 
better,"  Phileas  declared  to  Isabel. 

But  at  that  moment  the  door  opened,  and 
the  old  family  doctor  entered,  closely  followed 
by  Father  Van  Buren.  The  former  examined 
the  patient  carefully. 

"It  is  a  singular  case,"  he  said;  "but  I 
do  not  think  there  is  any  immediate  danger 
of  death.  It  would  be  well,  however,  if  she 
could  be  put  to  bed  as  soon  as  possible, 
without  unduly  exciting  her.  It  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  that  she  be  kept  quiet." 

It  was  Phileas  who  took  from  her  the 
jewels — though  she  at  first  resisted  the 
attempt, — and  gave  them  into  Father  Van 
Buren 's  keeping,  that  they  might  be  locked 
away.  Then  the  young  lawyer  raised  his 
client  in  his  strong  arms,  as  though  she  had 
been  a  little  child,  and  carried  her  upstairs. 


XVIII. 

FOR  the  next  few  days  Phileas  was 
kept  in  almost  constant  communi- 
cation with  the  mansion  in  Monroe 
Street.  Isabel  had  learned  to  depend  upon 
him  in  everything,  and  affairs  of  all  sorts 
were  referred  to  him.  The  young  girl  found 
herself  in  the  peculiar  position  of  being 
unacquainted  with  the  more  private  concerns 
of  the  family,  and  yet  feeling,  intuitively, 
that  there  were  grave  reasons  why  she  should 
not  call  into  the  intimacy  of  the  household 
those  relatives  and  friends  who,  on  hearing 
of  Mrs.  Wilson's  illness,  drove  up  to  the  door 
in  gorgeous  landaus  to  leave  cards  of  inquiry. 
For  such  a  remnant  of  the  stream  of 
fashion  as  yet  lingered  in  town  permitted 
itself  to  be  momentarily  diverted  from  its 
course  into  "that  dreadful  slum."  Some  few, 
in  the  hurry  of  departure,  offered  their  services 
by  telephone.  In  other  cases  that  departure 
was  delayed.  The  woman  who  led  so  retired 
a  life  behind  the  iron  gates  which  shut  in  the 
slum  was  known  to  be  very  wealthy,  with 
the  accumulated  wealth  of  the  Spooner  and 
Wilson,  connection,  to  which  was  added — so 


252  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

far  as  the  outside  world  knew — that  of  the 
Vorsts.  The  older  people  remembered  when 
John  Vorst  was  not  only  a  beau  (the  beau 
in  the  most  exclusive  of  circles)  whom  it  was 
the  ambition  of  every  girl  to  secure  as  an 
admirer,  if  not  a  prospective  husband,  but 
the  greatest  "catch"  from  a  monetary  point 
of  view.  Now,  it  was  fervently  hoped  amongst 
all  these  who  thus  remembered,  or  who 
became  thus  solicitous  for  her  health,  that 
the  old  woman,  having  no  near  of  kin,  might 
in  the  matter  of  her  will  go  out  into  the 
byways  of  her  distant  blood  relations  and 
marital  connections. 

Isabel,  on  her  part,  was  fully  aware  that 
for  many  a  day  Mrs.  Wilson  had  had  no  love 
for  her  gay  and  fashionable  kindred,  and 
that  she  would  feel  very  much  aggrieved 
were  they  now  permitted  to  intrude  upon 
that  privacy  she  so  sedulously  guarded.  She 
believed,  on  the  other  hand,  that  Mr.  Fox 
not  only  knew  as  much  as,  but  a  great  deal 
more  than,  she  did  of  the  family  affairs.  Mrs. 
Wilson  had  told  her,  in  fact,  that  the  young 
lawyer  was  entirely  in  her  confidence.  There- 
fore, it  was  a  perfectly  safe  and  restful  feeling 
to  know  that  Phileas  might  be  admitted  at  any 
time,  without  fear  that  he  should  happen 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  253 

upon  some  family  skeleton.  The  girl  was, 
moreover,  conscious  of  those  qualities  that 
had  caused  Father  Van  Buren  to  recommend 
so  young  a  man  for  the  delicate  and  difficult 
post  of  Mrs.  Wilson's  adviser.  The  tact, 
the  discretion,  the  energy  and  resourceful- 
ness, were  coupled  with  a  kindness  of  heart 
and  a  thoughtful  consideration  for  others  that 
were  manifested  in  a  hundred  little  ways. 

"What  should  I  have  done  without  you?" 
cried  she,  impulsively.  That  was  when  the 
first  danger  from  that  strange  seizure  of 
Mrs.  Wilson's  was  over,  and  the  doctor  gave 
some  hopes  of  the  patient's  recovery.  As 
Isabel  spoke  thus  the  two  were  walking  under 
the  shade  of  the  century-old  trees.  Phileas 
had,  in  fact,  insisted  that  the  girl  should 
come  out,  exerting  over  her  an  elder-brother 
sort  of  authority,  and  insisting  that  the  pale- 
ness of  her  cheeks  and  the  circles  around 
her  eyes  showed  the  need  of  fresh  air  and 
relaxation. 

When  Isabel  made  this  exclamation,  Phileas 
stopped  and  looked  at  her  for  a  few  moments 
without  speaking;  he  reached  up  instead  and 
plucked  a  spray  from  a  flowering  tree  above 
their  heads  and  handed  it  to  her.  Then  he 
said: 


254  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

"And  I  have  been  thinking  what  I  shall 
do  when  I  no  longer  see  you  every  day." 

Isabel  started..  Perhaps  that  possibility,  or 
something  else  which  his  words  implied,  had 
never  struck  her  before. 

"You  must  come  whenever  you  please. 
Mrs.  Wilson,  if  she  is  able,  will  always  be 
glad  to  see  you." 

"Yes,  yes,  I  know!"  replied  Phileas,  ab- 
stractedly,— "or  at  least  I  hope  so." 

"She  took  a  great  fancy  to  you,"  continued 
Isabel;  "and  you  may  consider  it  a  com- 
pliment, she  is  so  fastidious." 

"I  do  consider  it  a  compliment,"  assented 
Phileas;  "and  I  shall  always  feel  grateful 
for  her  kindness.  Of  course  I  shall  only  be 
too  glad  to  come  whenever  I  may,  but  it  will 
not  be  quite  the  same  thing.  I  shall  not 
come  into  your  life  as  I  have  been  doing 
lately;  and,  in  the  order  of  things,  friends 
must  drift  apart." 

"Why  should  friends  drift  apart?"  Isabel 
asked. 

"There  are  grave  reasons  on  my  part," 
answered  Phileas,  "though  they  may  not 
appeal  to  you  with  the  same  force.  For 
my  own  peace  of  mind,  it  is  advisable  that 
we  should  not  meet  hitherto  on  the  same 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  255 

intimate  footing.  Friendship  on  my  side  is 
impossible;  and,  as  for  anything  else,  your 
sphere  and  mine  are  too  far  removed." 

"You  speak  as  if  I  were  a  princess  or 
something  of  that  sort,"  said  Isabel,  with 
an  irrepressible  gleam  of  humor  in  her  eyes, 
"instead  of  being  a  poor  companion." 

"But,"  argued  the  lawyer,  though  a  light 
as  of  hope  began  to  shine  on  his  face,  "you 
have  lived  in  such  luxurious  surroundings 
you  have  scarcely  even  imagined  what 
poverty  is,  and  I  am  at  the  very  lowest  rung 
of  the  ladder." 

"And  I,"  said  Isabel,  with  a  laugh  which 
did  not  conceal  a  tremor  in  her  voice,  "besides 
being  poor,  shall  be  quite  alone,  if  anything 
were  to  happen  to  Mrs.  Wilson." 

Phileas  looked  eagerly  into  the  girl's  face. 
He  was  young,  having  scarcely  left  boyhood 
behind  him,  and  he  was  very  much  in  love. 
Those  words  of  Isabel  emboldened  him  to 
say  more  than  he  had  intended,  and  to 
neutralize  the  effect  of  his  late  prudent 
observation. 

"If  in  such  an  event,  or  at  any  time,"  he 
cried  impetuously,  "you  would  give  me  the 
right  to  care  for  you,  to — to  save  you  from 
that  loneliness,  and — forgive  me  if  I  speak 


256  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

too  plainly — from  that  poverty  which  is  so 
trying  to  a  woman — 

He  spoke  hurriedly,  almost  incoherently, 
and  he  waited  for  Isabel's  reply;  but  it  did 
not  come.  She  was  absently  plucking  the 
flowers  from  the  branch  he  had  given  her, 
and  said  nothing. 

"If  you  think  for  one  moment,"  he  went 
on,  "you  could  care  for  me  or  endure  the 
life  we  should  have  to  lead  together  for  some 
years,  it  would  be  almost  too  great  a  happi- 
ness. Only  remember  that  I  have  nothing 
to  offer  you  but  what  I  am  and  can  make 
myself.  I  have  no  influential  connections  nor 
great  prospects  of  any  sort." 

Isabel  was  still  silent,  as  though  she  were 
reflecting;  and  he  added: 

"Is  it  presumptuous  to  ask  you  if  you  could 
come  down  to  me?" 

"There  is  no  question  of  coming  down 
at  all,"  Isabel  replied  gravely,  "since  I  have 
just  told  you  that  I  am  as  poor  and  friendless 
as  possible." 

"And,  of  course,"  interposed  Phileas, 
promptly,  "I  could  never  have  loved  you 
as  I  do  if  I  had  known —  Then  almost 
immediately  he  corrected  himself:  "Even  if 
you  had  been  rich,  I  would  have  loved  you 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  257 

all  the  same;  only  in  that  case  I  should  have 
followed  the  advice  of  the  old  monk:  'Fly 
far,  fly  quickly,  fly  always.'  But  will  you 
not  even  say  one  word?" 

"I  can  not  think  of  any  word  to  say," 
answered  Isabel.  "All  my  thoughts  are  in 
confusion;  for  I  do  not  believe  that  things 
in  this  house  will  ever  go  back  to  their  old 
footing." 

Phileas  started.  "What  do  you  mean?' 
he  asked. 

"I  do  not  think  that  Mrs.  Wilson  can  last 
very  long." 

"But  the  doctor  said — 

"Yes,  I  know;  but  I,  who  have  watched 
her  closely,  feel  that  she  is  steadily  losing 
ground.  I  shall  be  very  lonely,  very  desolate, 
if  she  is  taken  from  me;  but  for  that  very 
reason  I  can  not  think  of  anything  else  now, 
nor  answer  a  question  which  would  require 
much  thought." 

"I  should  not  have  spoken,"  said  Phileas, 
remorsefully.  "I  never  dreamed  of  doing  so 
when  I  came  this  afternoon.  But  perhaps, 
after  all,  it  is  better  that  you  should  know 
and  understand  how  much  I  love  you,  and 
that  you  need  never  be  lonely  nor  desolate 
if  you  are  not  afraid  to  be  a  poor  man's  wife." 


258  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

Little  more  was  said  between  the  two, 
though  they  continued  for  a  few  moments 
longer  to  walk  up  and  clown  under  the  trees 
awestricken  by  that  idea  of  change  and  death 
which  Isabel  had  suggested.  During  that  in- 
terval, however,  Phileas  felt  more  forcibly 
convinced  than  ever  that  there  was  nothing 
henceforward  outside  of  that  enchanted  soli- 
tude save  work — steady,  ceaseless,  unremitting 
work — which  might  enable  him  to  gain  that 
treasure  within  the  iron  gates  that  now,  for 
some  mysterious  reason,  and  despite  Isabel's 
attitude  of  reserve,  seemed  within  reach. 

As  he  was  passing  out  that  day,  the  foolish 
young  lawyer,  who  should  have  been  so  wise, 
picked  up  from  the  grass  one  of  the  flowers 
that  Isabel's  dainty  fingers  had  plucked  from 
the  branch  he  had  given  her.  He  put  it 
carefully  into  his  pocketbook,  and  went  forth 
into  the  fever  and  fret  cf  the  highways;  and 
Isabel,  watching  from  an  upper  window, 
noticed  the  little  episode  and  smiled. 

It  certainly  was  as  well,  where  Isabel  was 
concerned,  that  the  young  man  had  spoken; 
for  it  brought  a  grateful  warmth  into  the 
coldness  of  that  sombre  mansion,  and  gave  a 
pleasant  turn  to  her  thoughts  that  had  been 
all  of  gloom.  She  pondered  upon  the  words, 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  259 

which  this  her  first  lover  had  spoken,  with 
a  pleasure  which  she  sought  to  repress  as 
unsuited  to  the  tragic  atmosphere  about  her. 
The  prospect  that  Phileas  had  held  out  to 
her  had  no  terrors  for  her  nature,  and  the 
personality  of  Mrs.  Wilson's  attorney  strongly 
attracted  her.  She  felt  convinced,  too,  that 
Phileas  must  necessarily  rise  in  his  chosen 
profession,  since  he  possessed  both  intellectual 
capacity  and  energy  of  character,  together 
with  a  certain  magnetism  and  the  friend  - 
making  quality, — all  of  which  were  likely  to 
insure  ultimate  success.  She  had  learned 
during  this  time  of  trial  and  bewilderment 
to  rely  upon  the  lawyer's  judgment  and  to  be 
cheered  by  his  sympathy.  Added  to  all  this, 
the  dawn  of  a  new  and  powerful  sentiment 
struggled  with  the  grief,  that  was  both  real 
and  strong,  for  her  aged  friend  and  protectress, 
who  now  lay,  as  she  feared,  in  the  grip  of 
approaching  dissolution. 

Through  the  dreariness  of  the  mansion, 
and  its  almost  abnormal  stillness,  rang  the 
vibrant  tones  of  the  young  man's  declara- 
tion; and,  as  an  echo,  deep  in  the  girl's  heart 
sounded  the  words: 

"I  do  love  him,  and  I  am  not  at  all  afraid 
to  be  a  poor  man's  wife." 


XIX. 

A  if  inspired  by  that  understanding 
with  Isabel,  and  the  hopes  it 
had  engendered,  Phileas  Fox  worked 
with  an  unremitting  and  ever-growing  energy. 
Custom  was  pouring  in  upon  him.  He  found 
it  necessary  to  engage  an  office  boy,  who 
should  help  with  the  copying  of  documents, 
and  other  such  matters  as  could  be  safely 
entrusted  to  him;  and  this  new  functionary 
was  installed  at  a  desk  behind  the  curtain. 
The  office  chairs,  once  painfully  new,  began 
now  to  grow  shabby  with  constant  use;  the 
shelves  were  filled  with  papers;  and  the 
attorney  himself,  as  he  bent  over  his  desk, 
was  an  exceedingly  busy  man. 

Early  one  Monday  morning  he  had  a  visit 
from  the  assistant  district  attorney,  who 
wanted  his  co-operation  in  an  important  case. 
"I  say,  Fox,"  he  said,  "we've  got  an  ugly 
customer  to  deal  with.  He's  involved  in  a 
very  network  of  illegal  doings,  and  yet  he 
manages  somehow  to  keep  on  the  safe  side 
of  the  law.  He's  a  shrewd  fellow;  he's  got  the 
nerve  of  I  don't  know  what;  and,  besides, 
there's  money  behind  him.  He's  feathered 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  261 

his  own  nest,  and  he  knows  how  to  rake  in 
the  shekels;  and  some  big  men  are  in  the 
deals  with  him.  I  want  you  to  take  up  the 
case  against  him  jointly  with  myself,  and 
to  get  evidence  so  that  we  can  procure  a 
conviction.  I  want  to  send  him  to  Sing 
Sing  for  a  long  term;  for  he's  about  the  worst 
blackguard  in  New  York  State." 

"And  that's  saying  a  good  deal!"  cried 
Phileas,  remembering  certain  experiences  of 
his  own. 

"Yes.  I  suppose  it  would  be  pretty  hard 
to  beat  Jason  Trowbridge." 

Phileas  started.  "Trowbridge?"  he  said. 
"Why,  I've  got  almost  enough  evidence  my- 
self to  convict  him  in  any  court." 

The  visitor  raised  his  eyebrows  incredu- 
lously. "I'm  glad  to  hear  it,"  he  said.  "But 
remember  that  'almost'  won't  do  for  that 
rascal.  He's  a  precious  slippery  customer." 

"Well,  I'll  put  my  evidence  before  you 
in  proper  form,"  Phileas  declared;  "and  I 
can  tell  you  that  I  never  undertook  a  case 
with  greater  pleasure,  apart  from  the  honor 
for  a  beginner  like  myself  of  being  associated 
with  you." 

"We'll  work  it  out  together,"  the  elder 
man  said,  with  a  kindly  smile.  "Our  office 


262  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

is  up  to  its  ears  in  work  just  now;  but  if  we 
can  capture  Jason,  we'll  do  a  great  service 
to  the  community." 

He  then  proceeded,  with  a  cynicism  en- 
gendered by  long  years  of  familiarity  with 
crime,  to  unfold  to  Phileas  such  deeds  and 
such  schemes  as  fairly  nauseated  the  listener, 
who  from  time  to  time  gave  vent  to  an 
exclamation  that  was  like  an  explosive  in 
the  serene  calm  of  the  other's  talk;  and  the 
keen  eyes  of  the  elder  man  twinkled,  and 
his  mouth,  set  firmly  above  the  grizzled  chin, 
formed  itself  into  a  laugh. 

"You'll  get  used  to  it,  my  boy,"  he  said 
encouragingly. 

"Why  doesn't  the  law  take  hold  of  this 
scoundrel,  and  a  score  or  two  of  others,  and 
shut  them  up?" 

"Partly  on  the  old  principle  that  rogues 
need  only  rope  enough  to  hang  themselves 
in  the  long  run,  partly  from  the  difficulty 
of  convicting  them.  The  law  itself  is  beset 
on  all  sides  by  dirty  trucklers,  who  are 
teaching  rascals  to  elude  it.  Pah!  it's  sicken- 
ing to  think  of  it.  But  you'll  find  that  there's 
no  use  in  regret.  If  every  man  in  this  country 
of  ours  would  only  work  for  honest  law  and 
honest  administration  thereof, — why,  the  cities 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  263 

would  be  paradise  instead  of  the  other  thing. 
It's  graft,  my  boy,  and  graft  again.  But 
tell  me  now,  what  do  you  know  about  this 
Trowbridge  ? ' ' 

"For   one   thing,   his   real   name   is   Gross." 

"Oh,  I  guess  he  has  half  a  dozen  aliases! 
But  what  else?" 

Phileas  then  related  his  own  experience 
with  the  miscreant;  and  the  big  man  laughed 
heartily  at  the  description  of  Jason's  visit 
and  its  results. 

"Why,  you  lost  the  chance  of  your  life!" 
cried  the  elder  practitioner.  "He'd  have  kept 
you  busy  from  one  end  of  the  year  to  the 
other,  and  paid  you  well.  You  might  have 
been  driving  your  own  motor  by  this  time, 
and  nine  out  of  ten  chaps  would  have  jumped 
at  the  offer." 

"Not  decent  fellows,  surely?" 

The  other  raised  his  eyebrows  again  and 
compressed  his  lips. 

"Plenty  of  what  the  world  calls  decent 
fellows,"  he  declared  emphatically. 

"They  are  a  disgrace  to  our  profession!" 
exclaimed  Phileas.  "They  ought  to  be  dis- 
barred." 

"You're  at  the  boiling  point  of  virtue  yet," 
the  District  Attorney  commented. 


264  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

Phileas  found  the  attorney's  cynicism  revolt- 
ing. He  liked  him  better  in  that  mood  when 
he  had  blurted  out  his  honest  indignation; 
for  he  knew  his  reputation  to  be  that  of  an 
honest  man  and  a  civic  and  national  reformer. 

"See  here,"  continued  the  other,  after  a 
pause.  "I  guess  you're  a  Roman  Catholic, 
eh?" 

"Yes,"  said  Phileas,  surprised  at  the  ques- 
tion; "of  course  I  am  a  Catholic." 

"I  thought  so,"  said  the  other,  looking 
at  him  thoughtfully.  "And  that  reminds  me 
of  a  little  rhyme  I  heard  somewhere: 

When   they're  good,  they're  "'cry,   very  good; 
And  when  they're  bad,  they're   horrid." 

"-They  never  have  any  excuse  for  being 
bad,"  said  Phileas, — "not  in  their  religion, 
at  all  events." 

"That's  right,"  agreed  the  other.  "I  haven't 
time  to  bother  my  head  about  any  religion; 
but  I  guess  yours  is  the  best  police  system, 
anyhow.  It's  needed  in  this  country,  to  keep 
the  masses  in  order." 

"It's  needed  everywhere,  to  keep  all  classes 
in  order,"  responded  Phileas,  who  was  not 
quite  pleased  with  his  senior's  way  of  putting 
things. 

"I    suppose    so, — I    suppose    so,"    assented 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  265 

the  official,  good-naturedly;  and  then,  dis- 
missing the  matter,  he  made  an  appointment 
for  the  next  day,  and  passed  out  with  a  fare- 
well hand-shake  that  was  unwontedly  genial 
for  him.  He  almost  knocked  into  a  person 
who  was  advancing  toward  the  office  door, 
and  who  was  the  very  antithesis  of  himself. 
It  gave  Phileas  a  sensation  of  absolute  relief, 
mingled  with  astonishment,  to  behold  John 
Vorst  standing  upon  the  threshold. 

Phileas,  having  hastened  to  accommodate 
him  with  his  own  chair,  which  was  the  most 
comfortable  in  the  place,  expressed  both  his 
surprise  and  concern  that  the  old  man  should 
have  ventured  so  far  alone. 

"Oh,  I  am  not  such  an  old  hulk  as  you  may 
suppose  from  seeing  me  seated  in  my  arm- 
chair!" cried  John  Vorst;  "though  it's  true 
I  am  a  bit  stiff  in  the  joints." 

His  voice  and  accent  were  so  delightfully 
modulated  that  they  were  a  distinct  relief 
to  the  lawyer,  especially  in  the  mood  wherein 
his  last  visitor  had  left  him.  And  the  person- 
ality of  the  late  comer  seemed  an  equally 
delightful  contrast  to  those  degraded  beings 
who  had  been  brought  before  the  young  man's 
mind  with  photographic  exactitude.  Here  was 
one,  as  Phileas  felt  with  a  curious  satisfaction, 


266  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

who,  with  innumerable  temptations  offered 
to  him,  had  never  swerved  from  the  path  of 
rectitude.  Occupying  a  high  place  as  he  had 
done  in  the  world,  being  almost  an  inter- 
national figure  in  social  circles,  he  had  held 
on  unflinchingly  to  the  ideals,  above  all  to 
the  faith,  of  his  youth.  Injuring  no  man, 
scandalizing  no  man,  he  had  borne  patiently 
and  without  bitterness  manifold  wrong  and 
injustice;  faithful  to  the  law  of  God,  and 
practising,  though  unostentatiously,  the  various 
devotions  of  the  Church. 

"Oh,"  thought  Phileas,  with  the  generous 
warmth  of  youth,  "even  apart  from  religion 
altogether,  isn't  it  better  to  do  as  this  man 
has  done?" 

For  his  heart  was  still  sick  within  him, 
not  only  at  the  revelations  he  had  heard, 
but  at  the  cynicism  with  which  those  revela- 
tions had  been  made  by  one  whom  he  knew 
to  be  an  honest  and  conventionally  right- 
doing  man. 

Mr.  Vorst,  quite  unconscious  of  the  anti- 
thesis he  presented,  and  of  the  train  of  thought 
which  his  appearance  had  suggested,  was 
looking  with  pleased  interest  about  the 
apartment. 

"So  this,"  he  said,   "is  where  you  dabble 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  267 

in  the  law  and  expound  its  mysteries?  It's 
an  exceedingly  pleasant  room,  with  plenty 
of  air  and  sunshine." 

"Just  see  what  a  view  I  have  from  this 
window,"  said  Phileas,  boyishly,  pleased  with 
the  other's  approval  of  his  surroundings.  "I'll 
move  your  chair,  and  you  can  examine  it  at 
your  leisure." 

Mr.  Vorst,  in  his  whole-hearted  way, 
expressed  his  wonder  and  delight  at  the 
strange  and  varied  panorama  outstretched 
before  him. 

"It  makes  me  feel  a  century  old  at  least," 
he  said.  "Picture  to  yourself,  if  you  can, 
Mr.  Fox,  how  this  great  wilderness  of  a  city 
looked  when  I  remember  it  as  a  boy.  Not 
a  single  sky-scraper;  only  surface  cars — horse 
cars  at  that — and  omnibuses;  never  a  tele- 
phone nor  an  electric  light.  And  as  for  these 
thoroughfares,  this  maze  of  offices  and  build- 
ings, those  multitudes  of  human  beings, 
divide  them  all  by  a  tenth  and  you  will  have 
some  idea  of  the  New  York  of  my  boyhood. 
And  now  show  me  some  of  the  sights,  you 
watchman  on  the  tower  of  human  progress. 
To  me  they  are  all  new.  I  never  get  farther 
down  town  than  the  twentieth  streets." 

Phileas    pointed    out    the    most    prominent 


268  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

features  in  the  landscape,  all  of  which  John 
Vorst  regarded  with  pleased  interest  and 
appreciation,  noting  the  contrasts,  asking 
questions,  and  listening  with  that  sympathetic 
joyousness  which  was  so  winning  a  trait  in 
his  character. 

"Well,"  he  said  at  the  end  of  it  all,  "there 
are  only  two  features  that  I  recognize  in  this 
new  scene,  and  they  are  like  old  and  faithful 
friends:  the  Bay  out  yonder  that  shall  flow 
upon  its  way  and  beat  upon  this  shore  long 
after  that  human  swarm  shall  be  gathered 
to  their  fathers,  and  the  twin  spires  of  Trinity 
and  St.  Paul's." 

After  the  old  man  had  thus  expressed  his 
admiration  of  everything,  he  said: 

"But  here  I  am  talking  away  as  if  we  were 
still  in  those  leisurely  old  days,  instead  of 
being  in  conversation  with  a  busy  and  rising 
young  lawyer.  Are  we  quite  alone?" 

"My  boy  may  be  behind  the  curtain," 
said  Phileas.  "I'll  make  sure,  though  I  don't 
think  he  is  precisely  within  earshot." 

To  make  assurance  doubly  sure,  however, 
Phileas  dismissed  the  boy  upon  some  errand; 
and  then,  locking  the  door  that  no  one  might 
intrude,  he  begged  of  John  Vorst  to  acquaint 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  269 

him  with  his  reasons  for  having  made  so 
unusual  an  effort. 

"I  received  a  letter  this  morning,"  said 
the  old  man,  seeking  for  the  epistle  in  question 
amongst  half  a  dozen  others  in  his  breast 
pocket.  "It  is,"  he  said,  "from  a  person, 
whom  I  may  possibly  have  mentioned  to  you 
before,  and  who  has  been  the  source  of  much 
annoyance  to  me  for  a  long  time  past." 

Phileas  divined  that  his  friend  could  be 
speaking  of  none  other  than  William  Gross, 
alias  Jason  Trowbridge. 

"My  connection  with  him,"  said  Mr.  Vorst, 
"dates  back  over  several  years.  He  was  once 
in  my  employment;  his  father  had  been  in 
that  of  my  father.  But  like  father,  like  son; 
we  had  to  get  rid  of  them  both." 

Phileas  made  no  effort  to  interrupt  the 
course  of  the  narrative,  even  to  the  extent 
of  remarking  that  he  had  heard  something 
of  all  this  before;  and  Mr.  Vorst  proceeded: 

"He  has  annoyed  me  in  many  ways  to 
gratify  the  grudge  he  bore  me.  He  used  to 
make  it  his  business  to  spy  upon  my  move- 
ments, to  discover  me  in  every  new  retreat, 
and  to  disclose  the  same,  or  to  threaten  that 
he  would  make  such  disclosure,  to  the  lawyers. 
Through  his  machinations  I  was  driven  from 


270  PH1LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

Mrs.  O'Rourke's.  I  then  went  to  Westchester, 
where,  despite  many  painful  associations,  I 
was  enjoying  a  real  repose  when  he  presented 
himself  one  rainy  afternoon.  I  declined  to  see 
him.  He  hung  about  the  house  till  late  night, 
still  kept  at  bay  by  my  sturdy  Teuton — 

"Whose  acquaintance  I  also  made,"  laughed 
Phileas. 

John  Vorst  looked  up  in  surprise,  while 
the  young  man  explained,  telling  for  the  first 
time  of  his  visit  to  the  house  and  its  results. 

"But,"  continued  Phileas,  "you  were  about 
to  tell  me  of  the  miscreant's  last  intrusion 
on  your  privacy." 

"He  hung  about  the  place,  as  I  said,  till 
late  on  into  the  night.  Eveu  after  I  had 
retired,  I  heard  his  uneasy  step  skulking  about 
the  gallery.  Had  he  dared,  he  would,  I 
verily  believe,  have  forced  an  entrance,  though 
he  usually  strives  to  keep  upon  the  safe  side 
of  the  law.  Next  day  I  left  for  Boston.  The 
fellow  had  either  lost  the  scent  or  he  did  not 
care  to  pursue  it  at  that  moment.  Since 
my  return,  which  he  has  in  some  way  or 
another  discovered,  he  has  made  sundry  efforts 
to  see  me,  always  repulsed  by  worthy  Mrs. 
O'Rourke;  after  which  he  had  recourse  to 
the  mails,  and  this  morning  I  received  the 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  271 

sample    of   his   epistolary    style   which    I    am 
about   to   show   you." 

Removing  the  letter  from  its  envelope,  John 
Vorst  laid  it  before  Phileas,  who  read  its 
contents. 


XX. 

JOHN  VORST  remained  silent  while 
Phileas  read  the  following  paragraph  of 
the  offensive  letter: 

"William  Gross  writes  these  presents  to 
warn  you  of  a  snake  that  has  crossed  your 
path,  and  who  bears  the  ugly  name  of  Fox. 
A  red-headed  shyster  of  a  lawyer,  he  is 
trying  to  get  the  better  of  you,  in  conjunction 
with  the  old  woman  in  Monroe  Street.  He 
was  seen  more  than  once  at  her  house,  and 
is  understood  to  be  engaged  by  her,  because 
he  is  so  young  and  so  unknown  that  he  could 
be  trusted  to  do  any  dirty  work.  He  plays 
fair  to  deceive  you,  and  one  of  your  Romish 
priests  is  in  the  deal." 

"That  first  part  of  the  letter  you  may 
pass  over,  if  you  wish,"  laughed  Mr.  Vorst. 
"It  is  a  little  bit  the  reverse  of  compli- 
mentary, and,  of  course,  would  not  have 
given  me  a  thought.  But  it  is  the  latter 
portion  of  the  precious  epistle  that  I  thought 
might  be  worth  considering." 

Phileas  who  had  colored  sensitively  at  the 
allusions  to  himself,  though  he  laughed  too, 
and  met  the  kindly  glance  of  Mr.  Vorst  with 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  273 

a  steadfast  one  from  his  own  blue  orbs,  gave 
his  attention  again  to  the  document.  It  was 
written  legibly  enough,  in  a  round,  clerkly 
hand. 

"You've  insulted  me  and  ill-treated  me 
for  many  a  year,"  read  Phileas  from  the 
paper;  "but  I'll  do  you  a  good  turn  now  at 
the  last,  and  spite  that  miserable  cur  of  a 
lawyer  that's  plotting  to  take  away  your 
property.  I  know,  and  my  father  before  me 
knew,  that  John  Vorst,  senior,  left  a  will, 
and  in  it  he  willed  everything  to  yourself, 
and  nothing  to  them  that  claimed  a  portion 
on  account  of  a  previous  will;  and,  more 
than  that,  he  wiped  out  the  whole  ground 
of  litigation,  and  cleared  up  the  title  that's 
been  in  dispute.  And  no  one  should  know 
better  than  my  father,  since  he  witnessed 
the  document." 

"A  pair  of  scoundrels,  father  and  son!" 
cried  Phileas.  "They  knew  of  the  existence 
of  that  will  and  kept  it  secret." 

John  Vorst  was  momentarily  silent;  Phileas 
remembered  that  another  had  known  of  its 
existence  and  refused  to  testify  to  that 
knowledge. 

"He  and  his  father  probably  stole  the  will 
between  them,  so  as  to  be  revenged  on  you." 


274  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

"It  seems  likely,"  agreed  Mr.  Vorst.  "But 
we  must  not  jump  too  hastily  at  conclusions. 
The  will  certainly  disappeared  in  the  hours 
following  upon  my  father's  death.  He  him- 
self had  informed  me  of  having  signed  such  a 
document,  and  deposited  it  in  the  library 
safe.  I  did  not  know  its  contents,  nor  did 
I  inquire;  but,  from  the  tenor  of  my  father's 
remarks,  I  believed  that  it  was  such  as  this 
fellow  has  now  stated.  I  understood  that 
he  had  revoked  certain  provisions  which  he 
had  made  two  years  previously,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  my  marriage.  He  was,  however,  a 
reticent  man  about  his  affairs,  and  did  not 
care  to  be  questioned.  But  he  also  gave 
me  to  understand  that  he  had  made  some 
arrangement  by  which  the  informalities  in 
the  original  sale,  and  which  had  already  led 
to  litigation,  had  been  amended.  In  that 
final  will  he  left  everything  to  me,  but,  as  it 
were,  in  trust  for  the  other  heirs,  and  that 
each  might  receive  a  due  share." 

"And  it  was  these  wretches,"  observed 
Phileas,  "who  have  caused  these  interminable 
lawsuits,  and  kept  you  out  of  your  property!" 

"You  are  determined  to  charge  everything 
upon  them,"  said  the  elder  man,  laughing; 
"and  they  certainly  were  the  cause  of  much 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  275 

mischief,  in  the  sense  that  they  might  have 
given  evidence  in  my  favor.  But  as  to 
the  rest,  we  must  have  some  charity  even 
for  the  William  Grosses  and — their  fathers." 

"We  shall  have  justice  for  the  son,  in  any 
case,"  replied  Phileas,  angrily.  He  could  not 
think  nor  speak  patiently  of  the  miscreant, 
especially  after  what  he  had  just  heard. 

"And  to  all  this  I  am  prepared  to  swear," 
continued  the  letter;  "and  to  bring  forward 
other  evidence,  in  order  to  circumvent  that 
villain  Fox  and  to  frustrate  his  schemes. 
I  warn  you  to  turn  him  out  next  time  he  calls 
on  you,  and  to  treat  him  in  all  respects  as  he 
deserves." 

"He  little  knows,"  said  Phileas  Fox, 
chuckling,  "that  he  has  done  me,  and  us  all, 
an  immense  service  in  smoothing  the  way 
for  a  final  settlement  of  an  intricate  affair." 

"You  may  well  call  it  an  intricate  affair," 
mused  John  Vorst;  "and  of  course  that  arose, 
as  I  presume  you  have  long  since  discovered, 
from  the  fact  that  Martha  Spooner  was  not 
only  mentioned  in  my  father's  former  will 
as  my  wife,  but  as  having  had  a  prior  claim 
to  the  Monroe  Street  property  through  her 
mother's  family,  who  were  the  original  owners 
of  the  dwelling — or  at  least  the  ground  on 


276  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

which  it  was  built, — and  once  again  through 
her  distant  kinship  with  my  father's  family." 

"My  client  explained  those  different  points 
to  me  in  our  various  interviews,"  said  Phileas. 

"Which  makes  it  unnecessary  to  go  into 
those  matters  at  present,"  said  Mr.  Vorst, 
with  evident  relief;  "though,  of  course,  at 
any  time  I  shall  be  glad  to  clear  up  any 
difficulty  that  may  exist  in  your  mind.  But 
what  steps  shall  you  take  with  regard  to  this 
letter?" 

"Our  object  must  be  to  get  possession,  if 
possible,  of  that  will,  if  it  be  still  in  existence; 
or  at  least  to  obtain  such  evidence  as  the 
rascal  may  be  induced  to  give.  He  little 
knows  the  rod  that  the  District  Attorney's 
office  has  in  pickle  for  him.  I  have  been 
asked  this  very  day  to  assist  in  procuring 
his  conviction.  If  this  matter  of  the  will 
can  be  brought  home  to  him,  it  alone  will  be 
sufficient  to  send  him  up  for  some  years." 

"Remember,  my  dear  fellow,"  objected 
John  Vorst,  with  an  involuntary  smile,  "that 
this  William  himself  could  have  had  no  hand 
in  the  actual  abstraction  of  the  will,  since  he 
was  not  even  born  at  the  time  of  my  father's 
death." 

"By  his  own  showing,  he  was  aware  of  the 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  277 

existence  of  the  document,  and  probably  of 
its  abstraction.  His  father  had  evidently 
made  him  privy  to  the  fact." 

"I  think  I  should  be  glad  to  fasten  that 
particular  crime  upon  him, — I  mean  upon 
the  elder  Gross,"  said  John  Vorst,  slowly. 

And  Phileas,  looking  at  him,  realized  what 
it  must  have  meant  to  this  man  to  have  had 
during  all  those  years  a  doubt,  which  very 
probably  he  would  scarcely  admit  to  himself, 
that  some  one  else — some  one  who  had  a 
more  direct  interest  in  the  transaction — might 
have  abstracted  the  paper.  The  young  man, 
therefore,  did  not  ask  any  question,  but  waited 
in  silence  while  Mr.  Vorst  went  on: 

"Otherwise,  I  have  no  special  desire  to 
see  the  wretch  punished.  As  we  grow  older, 
we  realize  that  the  hour  of  punishment,  lesser 
or  greater,  is  coming  for  everyone  of  us;  and 
we  are  disposed,  as  far  as  we  are  personally 
concerned,  to  leave  even  the  most  desperate 
offenders  to  the  last  tribunal." 

"But  the  good  of  society  must  be  con- 
sidered," argued  Phileas,  with  the  hot  zeal 
of  youth.  "This  ruffian  is  a  menace  to  every 
decent  citizen." 

"I  suppose  so, — I  suppose  so,"  agreed  John 
Vorst;  "and  it  will  be  your  duty  to  convict 


278  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

him  if  you  can,  instead  of  leaving  him  to  the 
last  Grand  Assizes.  But,  oh,  I  can  find  it 
in  my  heart  to  pity  such  as  he,  who  have 
never  known  one  generous  impulse,  one  in- 
spiration toward  good!" 

"But   think   of   his   victims,"   said   Phileas. 

"Yes,  I  acknowledge  that  they  must  be 
thought  of,  and  such  an  offender  must  be  put 
out  of  the  way  of  doing  evil.  I  was  merely 
thinking  of  my  personal  feelings,  you  inexo- 
rable man  of  law!" 

And  Phileas  could  not  help  wondering  a 
little,  since  the  man  before  him,  of  all  others, 
had  reason  to  complain  of  the  machinations 
of  this  Gross,  or  Trowbridge,  and,  as  it 
appeared,  likewise  of  his  father. 

"Of  course,"  the  lawyer  said,  waiving  any 
further  discussion  of  the  abstract  part  of 
the  subject,  "the  will  can  be  obtained  from 
him — if  indeed  he  possesses  it — only  through 
you." 

"Through  me?"  echoed  John  Vorst,  shrink- 
ing back  in  repulsion;  then,  almost  imme- 
diately bracing  himself,  he  added:  "But  I 
must  be  brave,  and  do  whatever  is  required 
of  me." 

"Were  7  to  act,"  said  Phileas,  "he  might 
destroy  the  will  and  refuse  to  give  evidence. 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  279 

In  fact,  it  is  certain  that  such  would  be  his 
procedure.  You  must,  therefore,  approach  him 
in  person,  or,  possibly,  through  your  attorney. 
Of  course  there  is  the  other  alternative  of 
causing  his  immediate  arrest  on  some  one  of 
the  other  indictments  which  we  hope  to  bring 
against  him,  and  striving  to  force  him,  through 
the  production  of  this  letter,  to  divulge  his 
knowledge  of  the  whole  matter.  But  I  believe 
the  former  course  to  be  preferable." 

"Come  and  dine  with  me  this  evening, 
and  we  can  discuss  the  affair  at  our  leisure," 
said  John  Vorst.  "My  cab  is  waiting,  if  you 
care  to  come  now;  or  you  can  call  for  me 
at  your  convenience,  and  we  can  decide  on 
whatever  hotel  you  modern  man  of  the  day 
may  select." 

This  being  agreed  upon,  Phileas  met  and 
accompanied  his  newly  made  friend  to  one 
of  those  great  hostelries  which  have  made  the 
name  of  Manhattan  famous,  and  there  they 
debated  the  question  in  all  its  bearings.  They 
finally  decided  that  the  matter  should  be 
arranged  through  John  Vorst 's  solicitor,  who 
should  interview  the  miscreant,  and  obtain 
from  him  a  full  confession  of  the  affair,  and, 
if  possible,  the  missing  document.  John  Vorst 
stipulated  only  one  thing:  that  such  confession 


28o  PH1LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

and  the  missing  will,  even  if  procured,  should 
not  be  brought  in  evidence  against  the 
wretch,  provided  that  his  conviction  could 
be  otherwise  procured. 

"I  have  very  little  doubt,"  said  Phileas, 
"that  we  can  get  all  the  evidence  we  need 
against  him  in  other  quarters." 

And  so,  in  fact,  it  proved.  It  would  require 
many  chapters  to  describe  the  emotions  of 
that  past-master  of  villainy  when,  after  giving 
up  the  will,  and  freely  confessing,  under 
promise  of  immunity,  the  share  which  he 
himself  and  his  father  had  taken  in  those 
transactions  of  the  past,  he  discovered  that 
he  had  unwittingly  befriended  the  lawyer 
with  the  red  hair  and  predatory  cognomen, 
against  whom  he  had  vowed  an  everlasting 
vengeance. 

Almost  tragic  in  its  intensity  was  the  scene 
when  that  discovery  was  made,  and,  face  to 
face  with  Phileas  Fox — the  latter  stern, 
menacing,  and  representing  the  full  majesty 
of  the  law, — he  learned  of  the  fatal  mistake 
that  he  had  made,  and  of  the  relations  in 
which  Phileas  really  stood  both  to  plaintiff 
and  defendant  in  the  famous  suit. 

Phileas  was  not  yet  hardened  enough  to 
receive  with  equanimity  the  storm  of  invective 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  281 

which  was  poured  out  against  him  by  the 
miscreant.  With  a  cold  and  deadly  malignity 
more  terrible  than  the  fiercest  rage,  the  wretch 
cursed  him  and  called  down  the  most  awful 
maledictions  upon  his  head.  The  young  attor- 
ney could  not  repress  a  shudder;  and  that 
fearful  scene  often  recurred  to  him  long  after 
the  villain,  convicted  upon  one  of  the  numer- 
ous other  indictments  against  him,  was  sent 
for  a  term  of  years  to  the  inferno  of  dangerous 
criminals  in  the  innocent-looking  village  of 
Sing  Sing. 


XXI. 

SOMEHOW,  during  the  first  days  follow- 
ing upon  Mrs.  Wilson's  illness,  and  in 
the  press  of  work  that  had  coincided 
therewith,  Phileas  had  been  forced  to  neglect 
John  Vorst,  in  whose  company  he  had, 
nevertheless,  found  an  ever-growing  charm. 
From  the  occasion  of  that  dinner  wherein 
they  had  discussed  the  affair  of  Jason  Trow- 
bridge,  he  had  not  seen  him  at  all.  But  after 
that  memorable  interview  with  Isabel,  when 
Love,  overleaping  the  barriers  of  reserve,  had 
thrown  down  the  gage  of  battle  to  unpropi- 
tious  Circumstance,  the  lawyer,  in  view  of 
the  girl's  warning,  had  felt  uneasy.  It  seemed 
incumbent  upon  him  to  communicate  to  the 
old  man  the  intelligence  which  he  had  hitherto 
sedulously  guarded  from  him, — that  of  Mrs. 
Wilson's  condition.  Isabel's  pessimistic  view 
of  the  situation  seemed  to  justify  some 
preparation  of  John  Vorst  for  a  summons 
that  Phileas  felt  might  be  sent  to  him. 
Therefore,  he  took  his  way  to  the  lodging- 
house,  where  he  was  greeted  by  Mrs.  O'Rourke, 
with  a  look  of  reproach  upon  her  worn  face. 
"I'm  glad  you  have  come  at  last,  Mr.  Fox, 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  283 

sir,"  she  said.  "The  old  gentleman  has 
missed  you  sorely,  and  he  seems  kind  of  down 
like  these  few  days  back." 

"It  was  not  my  fault  that  I  did  not  come 
sooner  and  oftener,"  the  lawyer  answered, 
as  he  was  ushered  into  the  front  parlor,  where 
he  found  John  Vorst  seated  as  usual  in  his 
chair  near  the  window.  There  was  in  his 
attitude  some  trace  of  despondency,  which 
he  instantly  threw  off  when  the  visitor 
appeared. 

Phileas  was  oppressed  by  the  consciousness 
of  the  mission  upon  which  he  had  come. 
He  felt  persuaded  that  John  Vorst  should 
know,  and  yet  he  found  it  very  hard  to 
broach  what  might  be  called  the  intimate 
and  personal  part  of  the  business  between 
husband  and  wife.  Hitherto,  it  had  not  been 
thought  necessary  to  acquaint  the  old  man 
with  the  facts  concerning  Mrs.  Wilson's  seizure. 
She  had  either  been  unconscious  or  too  weak 
for  even  the  smallest  excitement;  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  physician  had  assured 
Phileas  that  the  patient  might  linger  for  a 
considerable  period  in  the  same  state.  Isabel's 
opinion  had,  however,  brought  home  to  the 
lawyer  the  responsibility  of  permitting  John 
Vorst  to  remain  in  ignorance  of  his  wife's 


284  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

condition;  and,  moreover,  there  was  the 
possibility,  amounting  almost  to  a  certainty, 
that  Mrs.  Wilson  might  ask  to  see  John 
Vorst. 

As  the  young  attorney  sat  constrained  and 
uncomfortable,  the  experienced  man  of  the 
world  beside  him  was  observing  his  perturba- 
tion with  eyes  that  were  keen  for  all  their 
gentleness.  He  wondered  what  was  amiss 
with  his  frank  and  ordinarily  interesting 
visitor.  He  made  no  remark,  however;  but 
with  his  perfect  tact,  waited  for  the  other's 
explanation.  At  last  Phileas,  taking  his 
courage  in  hand,  blurted  out: 

"There  is  something  I  want  to  say  to  you, 
Mr.  Vorst,  and  I  find  it  hard  to  make  a 
beginning." 

The  older  man  turned  to  him  instantly, 
with  the  exquisite  sympathy  that  all  his  life 
through  had  won  friends  for  Mr.  Vorst. 

"My  dear  boy,"  he  replied,  "I  have  always 
found  that  when  anything  painful  had  to 
be  said  or  done,  the  safest  rule  was,  the  sooner 
the  better.  If  what  you  have  to  say  concerns 
me,  remember  that  I  am  too  well  inured  to 
trials  of  all  sorts  to  flinch  now.  If  it  concerns 
you, — why,  you  must  know  me  well  enough 
by  this  time  to  be  certain  of  my  sympathy." 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  285 

"The  former  supposition  is  the  correct 
one,"  said  Phileas. 

"Then  it  does  concern  me?"  John  Vorst 
exclaimed  quietly,  and  for  the  merest  instant 
he  bowed  his  head;  and  Phileas  fancied  he 
was  praying.  When  he  looked  up  again,  Mr. 
Fox  was  struck  with  the  brave,  bright  ex- 
pression of  the  face.  It  was  such  as  a  soldier 
might  have  worn  going  into  battle. 

"Old  age,"  he  said,  "makes  cowards  of 
us  all.  Forgive  the  paraphrase,  and  go  on 
with  what  you  have  to  tell  me." 

"In  the  various  conversations  I  have  had 
with  you  concerning  the  case  of  Spooner  vs. 
Vorst,  or  Vorst  vs.  Spooner,  I  have  avoided 
as  much  as  possible  what  might  be  called 
the  personal  side  of  the  affair." 

"I  appreciate  your  delicacy,"  said  John 
Vorst,  with  a  slightly  perceptible  stiffening 
of  the  figure. 

"The  interval  since  my  last  visit  to  you," 
continued  Phileas,  "has  been  one  of  painful 
anxiety  at  the  house  in  Monroe  Street.  Its 
mistress  was  attacked  by  a  seizure  of  some 
sort,  and  has  been  very  seriously  ill." 

The  face  of  the  listener,  seeming  to  grow 
tense  in  every  line,  slowly  blanched;  while  an 
almost  painful  brightness  centred  about  the  eye. 


286  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

"She  is  better,"  the  young  man  added 
hastily;  "though  I  have  been  told  by  one 
who  has  closely  followed  her  case  that  she 
is  not  likely  to  survive  very  long." 

Still  John  Vorst  gazed  at  the  speaker, 
maintaining  the  same  rigid  attitude,  and  with 
an  expression  of  keenest  suffering;  but  he 
spoke  no  word. 

"Under  these  circumstances,  certain  busi- 
ness affairs  have  been  necessarily  interrupted," 
the  lawyer  went  on.  "But  I  feel  it  only 
right  to  tell  you  that  they  shall  have  to  be 
terminated  speedily,  and  that  your  attention 
to  them  will  now  be  necessary." 

"Oh,  it  can  not  be  necessary,"  cried  John 
Vorst,  vehemently,  "to  disturb  a  dying  woman 
by  details  of  business!" 

"It  may  be  necessary  to  a  certain  extent," 
Phileas  said  gravely. 

"I  can  not,  will  not,  force  such  details  upon 
her,"  persisted  John  Vorst. 

"That  is  entirely  my  own  feeling,"  said 
Phileas.  "Even  though  acting  in  the  capacity 
of  her  attorney,  I  have  taken  no  steps  and 
made  no  suggestion  since  her  seizure.  Never- 
theless, I  believe  that  she  may  wish  to  see 
straightened  out  certain  matters  that  may 
necessitate  your  co-operation.  You  will  under- 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  287 

stand  that,  in  the  whole  affair,  a  grave 
responsibility  has  been  placed  upon  my 
shoulders;  and  I  can  not  entirely  rid  myself 
of  that  burden  without  at  least  acquainting 
you  with  my  client's  wishes.  She  was  so 
painfully  anxious  that  justice  should  be  done 
to  everyone  concerned." 

"Poor  Martha, — poor  Martha!"  murmured 
the  white  lips,  so  softly  that  it  seemed  merely 
the  whisper  of  the  breeze  passing  the  window 
frame. 

"It  was  her  hope  and  prayer,"  said  the 
lawyer,  earnestly,  "that  God  would  permit 
her  to  repair  all  wrongs, — to  complete  what 
she  called  her  expiation.  Therefore,  Mr. 
Vorst,  at  the  risk  of  seeming  hard,  I  must 
respect  that  trust  she  has  reposed  in  me, 
and  relieve  her  mind  by  complying  with  the 
few  remaining  formalities  that  are  absolutely 
necessary.  You  will  help  me  in  this,  will 
you  not?" 

"It  is  a  difficult  and  delicate  question," 
answered  Mr.  Vorst;  "and  all  my  instincts 
are  against  any  introduction  of  business  at 
the  present  juncture.  But  still,  if  it  could 
afford  her  the  slightest  comfort  and  relief, 
of  course  you  must  do  what  you  think 
expedient." 


288  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

His  voice  became  so  broken  as  to  be 
inaudible;  but  he  rallied  and  said  firmly. 

"May  God  direct  you!  Already,  at  the 
outset  of  your  career,  you  are  discovering 
that  the  right  thing  is  very  often  that  which 
is  at  variance  with  one's  feelings.  I  can  not 
advise,  but  I  beg  of  you  to  spare  my  poor 
Martha  all  you  can;  and  if  you  see  any  other 
means  of  accomplishing  her  wishes,  do  so. 
For  myself,  I  am  totally  indifferent  to  the 
result.  My  course  is  nearly  run.  In  a  few 
short  months,  or  years  at  best,  I  shall  have 
followed  her  into  the  shadows,  and  in  the 
meantime  I  have  sufficient  for  my  actual 
needs." 

"But  consider,  Mr.  Vorst,"  urged  the 
lawyer,  "that  as  matters  now  stand,  if  these 
affairs  are  not  settled  before  my  client's 
demise,  the  estate  must  be  divided  between 
her  next  of  kin,  to  whom  she  is  altogether 
indifferent,  and  that  act  of  justice  which  it 
is  her  desire  to  do  must  remain  undone.  And 
remember  that  besides  yourself  there  are  the 
other  heirs  for  whom  you  have  hitherto 
contested." 

"Yes,"  assented  John  Vorst;  "there  are 
the  other  heirs  for  whom  all  these  legal 
battles  were  fought  unavailingly . " 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  289 

"For  their  sakes,  then,"  said  Phileas,  "but 
still  more  for  my  client's  sake,  we  must  make 
this  last  effort." 

"Do  whatever  you  think  best,"  agreed  the 
old  man,  in  a  tone  in  which  there  was  only 
infinite  weariness. 

Phileas  felt  the  tears  rise  unbidden  to  his 
eyes.  The  tragedy  of  this  life,  once  so  rich 
in  promise,  wrecked  by  no  fault  of  his  own, 
but  by  the  multiplied  wrong-doing  of  another, 
smote  upon  the  young  man  with  full  force 
at  that  moment.  As  he  began  to  realize 
something  of  what  that  other  had  suffered, 
his  wrath  rose  and  burned  fiercely  against 
one  who,  now  as  plaintiff,  now  as  defendant, 
had  waged  a  bitter  warfare.  But  even  in  the 
midst  of  his  anger  something  like  pity  welled 
up  within  him  for  that  other  life,  so  much 
more  surely  wrecked  than  this;  and  for  the 
old  woman  who  was  expending  the  last  of  her 
strength  in  a  pitiful  striving  after  repar- 
ation. 

"You    forgive    all?"    whispered    Phileas. 

"Forgive!"  cried  John  Vorst,  turning  those 
brilliant  and  unnaturally  distended  eyes  upon 
the  speaker.  "Have  you  never  heard  the 
saying,  'Love  is  stronger  than  death.  It 
forgives  all,  it  understands  all'?  O  my  dear 


290  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

boy,  my  whole  heart  goes  out  to  her,  lying 
alone  amongst  the  shadows!  If  you  could  have 
seen  her  as  I  saw  her,  young,  gay  and  beauti- 
ful, you  would  feel  the  pathos  and  the  pity 
of  it.  Nothing  else  appeals  to  me  now." 

Phileas  did  not  interrupt  that  retrospect 
even  by  a  single  word.  Only  partially  could 
he  understand  the  varied  emotions  that  were 
rending  the  strong  frame  before  him  with  an 
agony  too  deep  for  adequate  expression,  but 
which  yet  had  loosened  that  long  silent 
tongue  and  given  voice  to  the  thoughts  of 
years.  Phileas,  therefore,  sat  still,  while  the 
clock  ticked  away  the  slow  moments.  That 
complete  forgiveness  upon  the  part  of  one 
deeply  wronged  appeared  to  him  most  marvel- 
lous, especially  when  he  looked  around  the 
lodging-house  parlor,  and  considered  the 
sordid  surroundings  wherein  this  man  had 
been  glad  to  find  a  refuge  from  legal  persecu- 
tion. He  finally  roused  his  friend  from  a 
painful  reverie  to  say: 

"It  seems  probable  to  me,  Mr.  Vorst,  that 
you  might  be  sent  for,  should  the  danger 
become  imminent." 

"And  I  shall  most  willingly  go,"  said  the 
old  man,  "if  only  I  can  feel  assured  that  my 
presence  shall  not  be  unwelcome." 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  291 

"I  believe  that  my  client  may  even  express 
a  wish  to  see  you." 

"I  shall  be  ready  at  any  moment.  God 
forbid  that  I  should  refuse  any  request  of 
hers!" 

"And  remember,  sir,"  added  Phileas,  "that 
you  may  command  me  at  any  time.  I  am 
altogether  at  your  service." 

The  hand-shake  exchanged  between  the  two 
men  was  strong  and  cordial,  and  John  Vorst 
said: 

"I  thank  you  from  my  heart.  I  will  be 
guided  by  whatever  you  and  Father  Van 
Buren  may  think  best.  But  I  beg  of  you,  my 
dear  Fox,  to  make  everything  as  easy  as 
possible  for — your  client,  and  to  consider  me 
personally  not  at  all." 

Phileas  went  away,  pondering  deeply  upon 
that  first  impression  which  he  had  got  from 
reading  dry  legal  documents,  and  thinking 
how  completely  the  order  of  things,  as  they 
then  appeared  to  him,  had  been  reversed, 
just  as  in  the  successive  lawsuits  plaintiff 
had  changed  places  with  defendant,  and 
defendant  with  plaintiff.  He  further  reflected, 
in  the  unwontedly  solemn  tone  of  thought  that 
had  been  induced  by  his  late  experiences, 
how  often  those  legal  phrases  twist  and  rend 


292  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

the  deepest  fibres  of  human  nature  and  make 
men's  hearts  their  playthings. 

In  the  midst  of  his  moralizing,  Mr.  Fox 
smiled  to  remember  the  exaggerated  precau- 
tions which  Mrs.  Wilson  had  at  first  taken 
to  insure  secrecy  concerning  his  visits  to  the 
house  in  Monroe  Street;  and  the  subsequent 
measures  to  be  adopted,  until  reassured  by 
him  on  that  point.  For  the  poor  soul  had 
seemed  to  forget  that  greater  New  York  goes 
on  its  way  unheeding,  caring  little  for  what 
occupies  the  atoms  composing  its  population. 


XXII. 

THE  summons  for  which  Phileas  had 
prepared  his  new  friend  was  not  very 
long  in  coming.  A  note  in  Isabel's 
hand  was  brought  to  the  office  by  Cadwallader. 
Phileas  was  busy  at  the  time,  and  the  old 
Negro  had  to  take  his  place  in  the  ante- 
chamber behind  the  curtain,  and  wait  his 
turn  with  two  or  three  others,  each  of  whom 
was  on  pins  and  needles  until  admittance 
was  gained  into  the  office  and  an  interview 
with  the  lawyer  obtained. 

When  at  last  Phileas  was  at  liberty,  and 
wondered  why  the  next  client  did  not  appear, 
he  drew  aside  the  curtain  and  discovered 
Cadwallader  asleep,  his  gray-besprinkled  head 
having  fallen  upon  his  breast.  Phileas  laid 
a  hand  gently  upon  the  old  man's  shoulder, 
and  Cadwallader  awoke  with  a  start,  brimful 
of  apologies,  and  quite  bewildered  by  his 
surroundings. 

"I  guess  it  was  all  a  dream,"  he  said 
ruefully;  "but  I  saw  a  lot  of  folks  together 
that  I  used  to  know.  But  where  am  Cad- 
wallader now?" 

3*3 


294  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

He  looked  up  into  the  lawyer's  face  with 
pitiful  eyes. 

"You're  all  right,  Cadwallader,"  said  Phileas, 
soothingly.  "Don't  you  remember  Mr.  Fox?" 

A  dawning  smile  of  recognition  began  to 
play  over  the  old  man's  face,  and  the  smile 
broadened  till  he  showed  every  tooth  that 
was  left  in  his  shrivelled  gums. 

"Why,  of  course,  Mr.  Fox,  sah, — why,  of 
course  I  recollect  you,  most  certainly!  You 
must  excuse  my  falling  asleep,  'cause  I've 
been  up  every  night  for  a  week." 

"Don't  mention  it  at  all,"  said  the  lawyer. 
"The  heat  alone  is  enough  to  make  you 
drowsy." 

The  Negro  meanwhile  began  to  feel  in  his 
pockets. 

"I  got  here  for  you,"  he  said  at  last,  "a 
note  from  the  sweetest  young  lady  in  the 
world." 

There  was  upon  the  Negro's  countenance  a 
subtle  recognition  that  he  knew  these  words  of 
praise  would  be  agreeable  to  the  young  prac- 
titioner. He  had  observed  a  chain  of  very 
small  and  unimportant  happenings  between 
those  two;  he  had  seen  them  walking  under 
the  trees,  and  had  marked,  with  a  keenness 
of  vision  which  time  had  scarcely  impaired, 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  295 

the  episode  of  the  blossom  which  Phileas 
had  picked  up. 

The  conscious  blood  flew  up  into  the 
lawyer's  face,  and  he  felt  a  thrill  of  pleasur- 
able emotion  at  sight  of  the  familiar  calig- 
raphy  upon  the  envelope.  He  also  expe- 
rienced a  very  friendly  feeling  toward  the 
old  Negro,  who  had  thus  put  into  words  the 
idea  that  had  penetrated  into  his  own  inner 
consciousness. 

"From  Miss  Ventnor!"  he  said,  with  a 
faint  smile  hovering  about  the  corners  of  his 
mouth. 

"Yes,  sah,"  said  the  Negro;  "from  Miss 
Ventnor,  sah.  And  she  asked  me  to  bring 
an  answer." 

Mr.  Fox,  taking  the  missive  from  the  mes- 
senger's hand,  withdrew  behind  the  curtain, 
placing  Cadwallader  at  an  open  window,  where 
the  old  man  amused  himself  by  observing 
with  childish  delight  the  panoramic  movements 
of  that  huge  commercial  machine  to  which 
he  was  a  stranger,  and  which  had  sprung 
into  existence  since  he  had  arrived  in  New 
York  as  a  pickaninny. 

Phileas  opened  the  note  with  a  new  feeling, 
delicate  and  tender,  as  though  this  caligraphy 
of  his  love  was  something  exquisitely  sacred. 


296  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

The  note  was  no  longer  from  Mrs.  Wilson's 
companion,  a  delightful  girl  whom  he  had  from 
the  first  admired.  It  was  from  a  personage 
who  might  one  day  stand  in  the  closest  of  all 
relations  with  himself,  to  whom  he  had 
addressed  words  of  ardent  affection,  and  who 
had  not  discouraged  him,  but  answered  in  a 
subtly  captivating  but  enchantingly  womanly 
manner,  which  had  left  him  hoping,  fluctuat- 
ing, and  yet  uncertain. 

He  opened  the  letter,  with  an  almost  absurd 
hopefulness.  It  was,  however,  brief,  and  with- 
out the  faintest  suggestion  of  feeling,  save 
perhaps  in  the  postscript. 

"Mv  DEAR  MR.  Fox: — Mrs.  Wilson,  who 
is  somewhat  stronger  and  better,  expresses 
a  wish  to  see  you  upon  an  important  matter. 
Is  there  any  one  else  whom  it  would  be  well 
for  her  to  see?  I  would  not  advise  you  to 
delay.  Come  to-day,  after  your  office  hours, 
if  possible. 

"Sincerely  yours,  ISABEL. 

"P.  S.~ It  has  been  a  little  bit  lonely  these 
last  days:  poor  Mrs.  Wilson  still  keeping 
her  room,  and  no  one  to  talk  to,  or  even  to 
argue  with  under  the  trees  in  the  park." 

Having  read  over  this  epistle  for  the  third 
time,  Phileas  set  about  answering  it: 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  297 

"DEAR  ISABEL: — I  am  bold  enough  to  call 
you  by  that  name,  for  I  never  think  of  you 
by  any  other;  and  you  know  I  have  pledged 
myself  to  try  to  win  the  right  to  call  you  by 
a  nearer  and  dearer  one.  If  you  are  angry, 
forgive  me.  A  lover  is  always  foolish,  and 
I  am  your  lover  now  and  forever,  whether 
you  respond  or  not.  This  is  a  sorry  attempt 
at  a  business  letter;  but  when  I  am  thinking 
of  you,  business  flies  out  of  my  head.  Do 
you  know  what  Cadwallader  called  you  just 
now  in  my  office?  'The  sweetest  young  lady 
in  the  world.'  He  and  I  are  fully  agreed 
upon  that  point. 

"May  I  ask  your  indulgence?  This  is  a 
lull  in  a  busy  day,  and  the  arrival  of  your 
letter  and  the  sight  of  your  hand  upon  the 
envelope  were  as  the  sweet  fragrance  of  a 
garden.  Did  that  postscript  mean  that  you  had 
missed  me  ever  so  little,  or  that  you  would  be 
glad  to  see  me?  Why  did  you  not  say  one 
word  to  cheer  me?  A  man's  life  and  his  day's 
grind  are  so  dull  and  commonplace  without 
a  woman's  thought  to  raise  him  up!  May 
I  own  that  until  I  met  you  I  was  satisfied  to 
work  and  work  alone?  Now  I  am  always 
seeing  your  bright  face  before  me  and  wishing 
that  I  were  rich.  Of  one  thing  I  am  satisfied, 


298  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

dearest:  that  you  are  poor, — -very  poor.  It 
will  be  such  a  happiness  when  I  can  make 
you  at  least  comparatively  rich. 

"I  should  like  to  go  on  writing  and  writing, 
putting  down  all  the  thoughts  that  occur 
to  me  about  you,  only  that  I  fear  you  would 
not  read  them;  and,  besides,  I  must  not  tire 
out  poor  old  Cadwallader.  And  better  a 
thousand  times  than  writing  is  the  thought 
that  I  shall  see  you  soon  again. 

"What  you  say  about  Mrs.  Wilson  partly 
spoils  my  pleasure  in  hearing  from  you.  I 
am  truly  sorry;  but  perhaps  she  may  pull 
through,  after  all,  and  be  with  you  until — 
until — but  you  have  promised  nothing,  and 
I  must  not  be  too  presumptuous.  Only  you 
can  not  keep  me  from  hoping.  Each  busy 
day  in  the  office  brings  me  nearer  to  the  possible 
realization  of  that  hope.  For  if  you  had  hated 
me,  or  found  my  offer  altogether  distasteful, 
you  would  have  told  me  so  at  once — would 
you  not? — and  so  have  put  me  out  of  suspense 
and  relegated  me  to  my  proper  place,  merely 
as  Phileas  Fox,  Attorney. 

"P.  S. — I  am  reversing  the  order  of  your 
note,  and  referring  business  to  a  postscript. 
I  shall  be  with  you  as  soon  as  I  can  leave 
the  office, — probably  about  half -past  five;  and 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  299 

my  interview  with  Mrs.  Wilson  shall  decide 
on  the  next  step  to  be  taken,  and  whether 
she  wishes  to  see  one  whom  I  think  it  advis- 
able that  she  should  see." 

This  epistle  Phileas  sealed  and  delivered 
to  the  Negro.  And  it  was  read  by  Isabel 
with  varied  emotions,  in  which  displeasure 
was  not  uppermost. 

"It  is  absurd  how  he  mixes  up  all  that 
love-nonsense  with  business!"  she  commented; 
and  then  she  fell  to  wondering  whether  if 
she  had  merely  met  Phileas  Fox  in  the 
ordinary  round  of  society,  or  if  Mrs.  Wilson 
had  not  fallen  ill  and  so  brought  the  young 
man  into  such  intimate  relation  with  herself, 
she  should  have  found  him  so  wonderfully 
interesting  and  have  looked  forward  so  much 
to  his  visits.  She  had  to  give  up  the  fascinat- 
ing problem,  since  one  set  of  circumstances 
can  not  be  judged  by  another;  and  the  fact 
remained  that  Phileas  Fox  had  become  a 
very  important  factor  in  her  daily  life. 

She  put  the  letter  away  in  her  workbox 
and  began  to  arrange  her  hair,  presently 
arraying  herself  in  a  particular  gown  which 
had  been  considered  very  becoming.  When 
her  toilet  was  thus  completed,  she  regarded 
herself  in  the  mirror  with  a  swift  feeling  of 


300  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

compunction;  and  then  she  satisfied  her 
conscience  by  the  reminder  that  Mrs.  Wilson 
liked  even  yet  to  see  her  carefully  dressed, 
and  would  have  remarked  at  once  if  her 
costume  were  sombre. 

"So  that  I  should  have  put  on  this  blue 
dress  all  the  same  if  the  lawyer  had  been  a 
gray  beard,"  she  explained  to  herself,  as  though 
another  person  had  been  present. 

One  thing  was  certain,  however:  that  the 
said  graybeard  would  not  have  been  expected 
with  the  same  pleasurable  excitement  that, 
despite  Isabel's  best  efforts,  filled  her  mind 
as  she  waited  in  the  library,  and  saw  the 
young  man  entering  at  the  gate.  As  she  sat 
there,  she  recalled,  too,  as  if  in  justification 
for  her  own  sentiments,  how  much  Mrs.  Wilson 
had  liked  the  young  man,  and  how  Father 
Van  Buren  had  so  often  become  enthusiastic 
in  his  praise. 

When  Phileas  entered,  he  shook  hands 
gravely  with  the  young  girl;  and,  after  an 
inquiry  as  to  the  invalid's  condition,  he  asked 
if  she  had  been  angry  at  her  letter. 

"Why  should  one  be  angry  where  no  offence 
is  meant?"  Isabel  replied  evasively. 

"May  I  write  again?" 

"If  it  should   be  necessary." 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  301 

"And   even  if  it  shouldn't?" 

"Why,    I    thought    you   were    very   busy." 

"So  1  am;  but  while  my  head  and  hands 
are  busy  my  heart  is  busy  too,  and  it  would 
give  me  so  much  pleasure  to  write." 

"Sit  down  now  and  be  sensible!"  cried 
Isabel. 

"Is  it  so  very  foolish  to  have  fallen  in  love 
with  you?" 

"Since  you  ask  me,  I  think  it  is.  There 
are  so  many  rich  girls." 

"Let  who  will  marry  them,"  Phileas  an- 
swered. "I  know  you  are  thinking  that  I 
should  not  talk  about  these  things  now,  and 
you  are  quite  right.  Only  I  lose  my  head 
somewhat  when  I  see  you,  and  I  am  always 
saying  or  doing  something  that  I  promised 
myself  not  to  say  or  do.  If  I  find  Mrs. 
Wilson  well  enough  this  afternoon,  may  I 
make  a  full  confession  to  her?" 

"It  seems  so  incongruous,"  objected  Isabel. 

"But,  after  all,  why  should  it  be?  If  you 
were  Mrs.  Wilson's  daughter  or  any  near 
relative,  there  might  be  some  force  in  your 
objection;  but  you  are  merely  her  companion; 
and,  should  she  suddenly  become  worse,  you 
will  be  left,  as  you  tell  me,  alone  and  friendless. 
Is  there  any  harm,  then,  in  seeking  to  gain 


302  PH1LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

your  promise  and  her  countenance  in  a 
matter  that  will  insure  your  future?" 

"Your  are  a  very  obstinate  man,"  she  said, 
with  a  ghost  of  her  old  happy  laugh. 

"Was  there  ever  a  lover  worthy  of  the 
name  who  was  not?" 

"I  don't  know  much  about  them  and  their 
peculiarities,"  smiled  Isabel.  "But  surely  they 
are  not  all  such  men  of  one  idea." 

"Oh,  yes,  they  are!"  Phileas  assured  her. 
"The  same  idea  is  always  there,  and  you  can't 
imagine  what  it  does  for  a  man.  But  I  shall 
feel  better  satisfied  if  Mrs.  Wilson  knows  my 
sentiments." 

"Tell  her  whatever  you  please,"  said  Isabel; 
"but  I  shall  reserve  my  judgment.  You 
must  not  promise  anything  for  me." 

"No?"  asked  Phileas, — "not  even  that  you 
will  take  my  case  under  consideration  as  the 
legal  phrase  is?" 

"Oh,  that  I  can't  help  doing,  since  you 
are  always  talking  about  it!" 

"Then  I  shall  put  it  this  way:  I  have 
fallen  so  deeply  in  love  with  Miss  Ventnor 
that  she  threatens  to  interfere  with  all  my 
legal  work.  She  promises  nothing,  but  she 
has  not  driven  me  off;  and  until  she  does, 
have  I  your  consent  to  win  her  if  I  can?" 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  303 

"Come,"  said  Isabel,  without  giving  any 
answer  to  that  proposition.  "Here  is  Cad- 
wallader  to  say  that  you  may  go  up." 

From  that  moment  Isabel  might  well  have 
been  satisfied  with  the  young  man's  pro- 
fessional gravity.  He  ascended  the  staircase 
carpeted  in  inch-deep  velvet  carpet,  of  a 
pattern  long  since  vanished  from  the  looms. 
He  passed  the  cage  where  the  parrot,  strangely 
silent,  pirouetted  upon  his  perch,  and  cast 
a  malevolent  glance  at  the  stranger;  and 
all  the  time  Phileas  did  not  even  look  toward 
his  companion.  In  a  few  moments  he  stood 
upon  the  threshold  of  a  large  and  lofty  bed- 
room, so  dark  that  at  first  sight  he  could 
scarcely  distinguish  objects.  It  needed  but  a 
glance  to  convince  Phileas  that  Isabel's  worst 
forebodings  were  likely  to  be  realized,  and  a 
wave  of  genuine  emotion  passed  over  him. 

He  advanced  to  the  bedside,  whence  Mrs. 
Wilson  gave  him  a  smile  of  greeting,  pointing 
at  the  same  time  to  a  chair.  In  the  conversa- 
tion that  ensued,  Phileas  found  his  client's 
mental  faculties  almost  painfully  acute;  while 
in  her  voice  and  manner  were  traces  of  the 
old  imperiousness,  and  a  strained  eagerness 
to  be  certain  that  he  understood  every  point 
at  issue  between  herself  and  John  Vorst  and 


304  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

the  other  heirs,  for  whose  sake  had  been 
chiefly  carried  on  that  contest,  wherein  the 
principal  combatant  now  desired  nothing  so 
much  as  a  peaceful  settlement  of  all  difficulties. 
She  went  into  the  subject  with  a  force  and 
clearness  that  were  astonishing,  considering 
her  situation.  She  caused  the  ink  to  be 
brought;  and,  with  a  hand  that  had  grown 
painfully  tremulous,  signed  the  last  of  those 
papers  for  which,  so  far  as  could  be  foreseen, 
her  signature  would  be  required;  calling  in 
Isabel  and  Cadwallader  as  witnesses. 

Despite  his  firm  resolution  to  the  contrary, 
Phileas  found  no  opportunity  of  explaining 
his  sentiments  in  Isabel's  regard.  To  the 
old  woman  every  moment  was  so  precious 
that  she  was  wholly  occupied  with  matters 
which  she  held  to  be  of  vital  import,  and 
from  which  her  attention  could  not  be  dis- 
tracted. Any  attempt  that  Phileas  made  in 
the  direction  of  his  own  affairs,  that  imperious 
will  waved  aside  as  of  no  importance.  And 
perhaps  it  was  as  well  to  add  no  further 
burden  or  perplexity  to  that  sorely  tried  mind, 
struggling  thus  painfully  against  the  last 
mortal  foe. 

It  is  possible,  indeed,  that  the  old  lady's 
conservative  turn  of  thought  would  have 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  305 

recoiled  from  the  prospect  of  giving  Isabel, 
whom  she  had  regarded  as  her  daughter, 
to  any  young  and  unknown  man  who  had 
nothing  more  to  offer  than  his  own  sterling 
personality;  such  an  idea  might  have  been 
merely  disturbing  to  her  dying  moments.  In 
any  case,  Phileas  soon  abandoned  the  effort 
to  bring  his  view  before  her,  and  sat  for  the 
most  part  in  silence  beside  that  melancholy 
bed, — unless,  indeed,  his  client  asked  for  his 
opinion.  He  was  surprised  at  the  strange 
affection  which  he  felt  for  this  old  woman 
who  had  so  deeply  sinned  and  so  generously 
atoned. 

From  time  to  time,  as  she  showed  signs  of 
exhaustion,  the  lawyer  urged  her  to  rest, 
suggesting  that  he  would  come  again  at  any 
time. 

"No,  no!"  she  cried  earnestly.  "I  must 
not  omit  anything  important.  At  my  age, 
even  in  ordinary  health  it  would  be  dangerous 
to  delay." 

As  last,  however,  she  let  her  head  fall  back 
upon  her  pillow. 

"This  weakness  is  stronger  than  I  am," 
she  said,  with  a  smile  that  was  piteous  in 
the  extreme.  "But  everything  of  importance 
is  done.  There  are  a  few  points  which  I 


306  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

would  wish  to  have  explained  to  you,  as,  for 
instance,  about  Isabel.  Should  I  see  you 
again,  I  will  explain  all.  But  in  any  case, 
I  want  you  to  promise  me  one  thing." 

She  fixed  Phileas  with  her  piercing  eyes 
as  she  continued,  scarcely  waiting  for  the 
young  man's  assurance  that  he  would  do 
whatever  she  might  desire. 

"That  you  will  not  let  me  die  without 
seeing  John  Vorst." 


V 


XXIII. 

ERY     soon     Phileas     had    reason    to 
congratulate     himself     upon     having 
prepared  Mr.  Vorst  for  his  summons 
to    the    dwelling    in    Monroe    Street. 

"Come  as  quickly  as  you  can,"  was  the 
message  he  received  from  Isabel.  "The  doctor 
and  Father  Van  Buren  think  that  Mrs.  Wilson 
is  now  sinking  fast." 

This  announcement  gave  Phileas  a  shock. 
It  was  not  that  he  was  unaccustomed  to 
death.  He  had  lost  his  mother  before  he 
was  out  of  his  teens;  his  father  had  died 
while  he  was  still  at  college;  and  he  had  seen 
other  relatives  dropping  round  him  like  leaves 
in  autumn  weather.  Nevertheless,  this  sudden 
news  temporarily  unmanned  him.  He  had 
begun  to  identify  himself  so  closely  with 
the  house  in  Monroe  Street  that  he  almost 
felt  as  if  he  were  one  of  the  family.  The 
personality  of  the  old  woman,  despite  all 
that  he  knew  to  her  disadvantage,  singularly 
interested  him;  and  he  had  learned  to  look 
forward  to  his  visits  to  the  mansion,  even 
apart  from  the  potent  attraction  which  he 
had  found  in  Isabel.  But,  all  unwittingly, 
he  had  anticipated  a  considerable  interval 


308  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

during  which  matters  would  remain  at  a 
standstill,  and  he  should  enjoy  his  present 
footing  of  intimacy, — always  with  the  hope  that 
he  should  be  enabled  ultimately  to  win  the 
girl  whom  of  all  others  he  desired  for  his 
wife.  It  had  never  occurred  to  him  as 
possible  that  death  should  so  swiftly  tumble 
this  house  of  cards  about  his  head. 

His  promise  to  Mrs.  Wilson  immediately 
recurred  to  him,  and  he  resolved  to  lose  not 
a  moment  in  putting  it  into  execution.  In 
a  very  few  seconds  after  the  receipt  of  Isabel's 
message,  he  was  in  his  street  apparel  and 
hastening  toward  the  elevated  train,  which 
he  believed  to  be  the  quickest  means  of 
transport  to  his  destination. 

He  was  admitted  by  the  lodging-house 
servant,  and  not  by  Mrs.  O'Rourke  herself; 
which  Phileas  held  to  be  a  fortunate  circum- 
stance, precluding  the  idea  of  delay.  He 
found  Mr.  Vorst  seated,  as  was  his  wont, 
near  the  window;  and  when  the  young  man 
entered  the  room  he  laid  aside  the  "Imitation" 
which  he  had  been  reading, — placing  it,  as 
the  visitor  noticed,  upon  a  table,  with  a 
Rosary  that  had  likewise  been  in  use. 

"This  is  an  early  visit,  sir,"  said  Phileas, 
gravely,  taking  the  chair  indicated. 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  309 

"Early  or  late  matters  little  to  an  old  hulk 
like  myself,  who  is  merely  existing  in  the 
sunshine,"  said  Mr.  Vorst;  but  even  as  he 
spoke  he  looked  keenly  into  the  other's  face, 
and  saw  there  what  caused  his  own  face  to 
pale. 

"Mr.  Vorst,"  observed  Phileas,  leaning 
forward  and  laying  a  hand  gently  upon  the 
old  man's  arm.  "I  have  just  heard  from 
the  house  that  our  patient  is  still  weaker 
to-day,  and  I  think  it  is  time  to  fulfil  a 
promise  which  I  made  since  I  saw  you  last." 

John  Vorst  did  not  ask  what  that  promise 
was:  he  simply  waited  till  the  younger  man 
explained : 

"I  promised  her,  sir,  that  I  would  not  let 
her  die  till  she  had  seen  you." 

"And  has  it  come  to  that?  O  my  God, 
has  it  come  to  that?" 

There  was  a  wail  in  his  voice, — the  deep, 
awful  wail  of  an  uncontrollable  anguish.  He 
rose,  however,  in  a  bewildered  way,  and  said: 

"We  must  not  lose  any  time,  Mr.  Fox. 
We  had  better  go  at  once,  if  only  you  will 
help  me  a  little  with  my  toilet.  I  am 
shaken  somewhat,  my  hand  trembles,  and 
I  don't  see  as  well  as  usual." 

He  shook,  in  fact,  as  one  who  has  a  chill, 


310  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

while  Phileas  gave  him  the  desired  help  in 
putting  on  his  garments  for  the  street. 

Ten  minutes  later  the  two  were  seated 
in  a  coupe",  which  the  lawyer  had  summoned 
from  a  neighboring  stand.  As  they  drove  along, 
there  was  silence  between  them.  The  old 
man  gazed  out  of  the  carriage  window,  his 
face  drawn  and  pinched,  his  whole  mind  and 
soul  back  in  those  days  when  he  had  been 
young  and  had  first  met  Martha  Spooner, 
then  scarcely  out  of  her  teens. 

When  the  carriage  reached  the  iron  gates, 
Phileas  made  the  driver  a  sign  to  stop  there. 
Alighting  first,  he  offered  his  arm  to  the  old 
man,  and  so  the  two  passed  through  the 
gates.  John  Vorst  was  trembling  more  than 
ever, — quivering  with  the  stress  of  that  emo- 
tion which  threatened  to  overpower  him  as 
his  feet  trod  once  again  those  long  familiar 
ways. 

The  door  of  the  house  stood  open,  and  the 
pair,  ascending  the  steps,  entered.  Before 
they  had  proceeded  far,  they  were  met  by 
Cadwallader,  who  greeted  Mr.  Fox  grimly 
and  solemnly,  oblivious  at  first  of  his  com- 
panion. Then  all  of  a  sudden  he  stared, 
seeming  to  blanch  under  the  ebony  of  his 


PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney  311 

skin;  his  knees  shook;  he  trembled  from 
head  to  foot. 

"Massa  Vorst!"  he  cried,  with  such  a  look 
as  he  might  have  given  to  a  ghost,  clasping 
and  unclasping  his  hands  as  though  he  were 
praying.  "Massa  Vorst!"  His  face  worked, 
his  eyes  rolled,  and  he  broke  into  a  very 
paroxysm  of  sobs. 

" Cadwallader,  old  friend!"  Mr.  Vorst  said; 
and,  extending  his  hand  he  seized  that  of 
the  ancient  servitor  in  a  warm  grasp. 

At  that  very  moment,  with  a  bounding 
of  the  heart,  Phileas  saw,  as  a  gleam  in  that 
dark  valley  of  the  shadow,  Isabel  Ventnor 
descending  the  stairs.  Her  face,  too,  was 
paler  and  graver  than  he  had  ever  seen  it. 
She  shook  hands  with  him,  and  cast  a  look 
of  troubled  inquiry  at  his  companion. 

"I  have  brought,"  said  Phileas,  in  answer 
to  the  look,  "some  one  whom  Mrs.  Wilson 
has  desired  to  see  before  the  end." 

Isabel  glanced  again  at  the  courtly  old 
figure  and  the  finely  featured  face,  upon 
which  were  evidences  of  deep  emotion.  She 
merely  said,  however,  as  she  returned  the 
old  man's  courteous  salutation: 

"I  will  go  and  let  her  know  that  you  are 
here,  Mr.  Fox,  and  that  you  have  brought 


312  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

some  one  to  see  her.     Will  you  please  wait 
in   the   library?" 

The  men  did  not  enter  the  room,  but 
waited  in  the  hall;  for  Isabel  was  gone  only 
a  moment. 

Mrs.    Wilson,    on   hearing   her   tidings,    had 
cried  out  with  unexpected  strength: 
"Go  and  bring  them  here  at  once!" 

-Isabel,  appearing  upon  the  stairs,  made 
Phileas  a  sign;  and  he,  offering  his  arm  to 
Mr.  Vorst,  led  him  up  those  stairs  which 
his  feet  had  so  often  trod  with  the  buoyant 
step  of  youth.  Presently  they  reached  that 
same  massive  room  which  Phileas  had  visited 
before,  with  its  furniture  of  carved  mahogany, 
and  its  deep -set  windows,  from  one  of  which 
the  heavy  curtains  were  now  drawn  back. 

There,  upon  the  high  four-post  bed,  lay 
Martha  Spooner  Vorst.  She  wore  a  dressing- 
gown  of  pale  heliotrope,  which  emphasized 
the  ghastly  color  and  emaciation  of  her  face. 
Her  hair,  smoothed  back  from  the  forehead, 
showed  snow-white  in  the  darkness.  Her 
hands,  skeleton-like,  lay  outside  the  coverlet. 

Phileas  was  quick  to  perceive  the  change 
for  the  worse  that  had  occurred  even  since 
"his  last  interview,  and  rejoiced  that  he  had 
wasted  no  time  in  the  fulfilment  of  his 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  313 

promise.  He  advanced  first,  as  if  to  prepare 
the  occupant  of  the  bed,  who  greeted  him  in 
a  faint  but  perfectly  distinct  voice: 

"Has  everything  been  done,  Mr.  Fox?  Or 
is  anything  more  required  of  me?" 

"I  think  everything  has  been  done,"  said 
Phileas;  "and  the  recovery  of  the  will,  of 
which  I  informed  you  in  my  letter  of  last 
week,  has  simplified  matters,  so  that  you  need 
not  have  any  anxiety." 

"So  that  everything  will  be  right  for  him, — 
for  them?"  she  asked. 

Her  voice  was  strangely  calm  and  hushed, 
as  one  speaking  from  a  distance.  It  had 
lost  all  the  strained  eagerness  of  the  former 
interview. 

"There  are  so  many  things  that  I  wanted 
to  explain  to  you,"  she  continued;  "but 
there  is  no  time  now.  I  never  even  told  you 
about  Isabel.  She  is  John  Vorst's  niece,  the 
daughter  of  his  only  sister." 

Even  in  the  solemnity  of  that  moment 
Phileas  felt  as  if  he  had  received  a  blow,  so 
unexpected  was  that  announcement.  But 
the  eyes  of  the  dying  woman  were  already 
travelling  past  him  to  the  door,  and  she  made 
a  movement  almost  as  if  she  would  push  him 
aside. 


314  PH1LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

"Mrs.  Wilson,"  said  Phileas,  "I  have  kept 
my  promise:  I  have  brought  him  to  see  you." 

A  smile  parted  the  lips,  there  was  a 
suggestion  almost  of  youthfulness  in  the 
countenance.  As  the  lawyer  drew  back,  his 
companion  advanced,  trembling. 

"Martha!"  he  cried, — "Martha!" 

"John!"  said  the  old  woman.  "Forgive! — 
forgive!" 

In  her  voice  was  only  the  calmness  of  the 
great  silence  into  which  she  was  about  to 
enter  and  a  gladness  more  pathetic  than  any 
tears. 

Phileas  softly  rose,  and,  choking  with  an 
emotion  that  threatened  to  overpower  him, 
he  stole  out.  In  the  corridor  he  met  Isabel, 
and  they  passed  downstairs  in  silence.  Apart 
from  the  effect  produced  upon  him  by  the 
solemn  scene  which  he  had  just  witnessed, 
Phileas  felt  Isabel  to  be  henceforward  at 
an  immeasurable  distance  from  him.  Mrs. 
Wilson's  companion,  whom  he  had  wooed 
and  almost,  as  he  hoped,  won,  had  been 
suddenly  transformed  into  an  heiress,  a  girl 
of  high  station,  and  of  a  position  to  which 
he  could  not  aspire.  His  manner  was,  there- 
fore, so  cold  and  formal  as  to  occasion  in 
Isabel  a  swift  movement  of  surprise. 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  315 

"She  has  taken  the  place  of  my  mother, 
who  died  a  few  years  ago,"  said  she.  "I 
feel  now  as  if  I  were  altogether  alone  in  the 
world." 

Phileas'  reply  was  cold  and  studied.  He 
made  no  effort  to  take  her  hand  or  to  utter 
any  word  of  comfort.  The  only  thing  he 
could  think  of  to  say  was: 

"I  am  sure  you  will  find  other  relatives." 

It  was  only  when  the  Negro,  trembling 
and  gasping  with  emotion,  summoned  them 
to  the  apartment  above,  where  that  great 
reconciliation  had  been  effected  that  Isabel, 
gasping  Phileas  convulsively  by  the  sleeve, 
cried : 

"Who  is  that  you  brought?" 

And  Phileas,  thrilling  with  love  and  pity, 
and  deeming  the  need  for  concealment  over, 
said,  looking  down  upon  her: 

"That  is  Mr.  John  Vorst." 

Following  upon  Mrs.  Wilson's  death,  were 
some  busy  weeks  for  Phileas,  in  settling  up 
that  long-disputed  estate.  It  is  true  that 
the  case  never  went  to  the  courts  (as  at  the 
first  blush  had  seemed  probable),  nor  given 
the  young  man  that  forensic  opportunity  for 
which  he  had  hoped.  But  before  the  final 


316  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

arrangements  had  been  concluded,  notwith- 
standing the  efforts  of  the  deceased  to  put 
everything  in  order,  Phileas  had  been  brought 
into  communication  with  half  a  dozen  or 
more  prominent  legal  firms,  and  had  made 
quite  a  name  amongst  them  as  an  honest, 
energetic,  capable  attorney,  and  one  who  was 
determined  to  maintain  the  highest  professional 
standards. 

Mr.  Vorst  meanwhile  took  up  his  abode  in 
the  dwelling  at  Westchester,  with  Susan 
O'Rourke  as  housekeeper.  She  had  agreed 
to  give  up  lodgers,  and  she  and  her  children 
were  located  in  a  small  cottage  adjoining  that 
of  the  German's.  Cadwallader  likewise  accom- 
panied "Massa  Vorst,"  as  did  also  Isabel. 
Phileas  had  a  cordial  invitation  to  spend 
his  Sundays  with  them,  and  to  visit  there  as 
often  as  possible.  But  he  rarely  availed 
himself  of  the  privilege,  save  when  he  was 
compelled  to  hold  personal  communication 
with  John  Vorst. 

One  Sunday,  however,  he  had  run  out  to 
Westchester  to  confer  with  Mr.  Vorst  on 
some  legal  point  that  had  arisen  during  the 
week,  resolving  to  return  by  the  noon  train, 
and  to  spend  the  afternoon  in  town.  He 
could  not  find  the  master  of  the  house  any- 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  317 

where  on  the  groundfloor;  nor  could  he  meet 
with  Cadwallader,  by  whom  to  send  a  message. 
He,  however,  encountered  Isabel,  seated  upon 
that  portion  of  the  veranda  where  he  had 
held  the  colloquy  with  the  Teuton.  Her 
plain  black  dress  fitted  her  to  perfection; 
its  sombreness  was  relieved  only  by  white 
muslin  collar  and  cuffs,  daintily  finished  by 
the  girl  herself,  in  drawn-work.  Her  com- 
plexion was  less  bright  than  he  had  seen  it 
formerly;  and  her  manner  was  somewhat 
cold,  or  so  the  lawyer  thought;  and  he  held 
it  to  be  a  further  indication  that  she  was 
now  aware  of  the  difference  in  their  relative 
positions.  "As  if  she  thought  me  capable 
of  the  meanness,"  he  reflected  bitterly,  "of 
taking  advantage  of  my  position  as  family 
solicitor  to  win  an  heiress!" 

Isabel  laid  down  her  book,  and,  looking 
at  him  gravely,  said: 

"Won't  you  sit  down,  Mr.  Fox?  My  uncle 
has  not  come  down  yet." 

"Perhaps  he  would  see  me  in  his  room," 
Phileas  suggested.  "I  have  to  catch  the 
noon  train  back  to  town." 

"Busy  even  on  Sunday!"  Isabel  said,  with 
a  gleam  of  her  old  merriment  in  her  eyes. 

Phileas    reddened    and    bit    his     lip.     He 


318  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

remembered  how  he  had  told  her  that  he 
always  enjoyed  the  Sunday  rest.  He  muttered 
something  about  an  engagement;  and,  though 
he  was  still  standing,  he  lingered. 

"Mr.  Vorst  (that  is  Uncle  John)  keeps 
remarkably  well;  don't  you  think  so?" 

Isabel  asked  the  question  a  little  anxiously, 
and  Phileas  answered: 

"Yes,  perhaps,  as  regards  his  bodily  health; 
but  I  find  him  much  aged  and  broken  since 
my  first  meeting  with  him." 

"Oh,  I  had  forgotten  that  you  knew  him 
before!"  said  Isabel;  and  then  there  was 
once  more  a  silence.  "I  suppose  you  are 
always  busy?"  she  added  presently. 

"Why,  yes,"  Phileas  answered,  "I  have 
been  pretty  steadily  upon  the  grind.  But 
I  like  work.  It  braces  a  man's  mind  much 
as  athletics  do  the  body.  But  I  must  really 
try  to  find  Cadwallader,  and  send  a  message 
to  Mr.  Vorst,  or  I  shall  miss  my  train." 

"I  think  Cadwallader  is  in  the  garden, 
gathering  lettuce  for  luncheon;  but  you  can 
either  find  him  there  yourself,  or  I— 

"Oh,  of  course  I  shall  find  him!  Don't 
disturb  yourself.  I  have  interrupted  your 
reading  too  long  already.  So  good-bye,  if 
I  do  not  see  you  again." 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  3I9 

"Good-bye!"  said  Isabel.  "The  garden  is 
over  that  way,  just  beyond  that  clump  of 
trees." 

"Oh,  I  shall  find  it  easily!"  he  replied. 

But  before  he  had  gone  many  steps  he 
was  perceived  from  an  upper  window  by 
Mr.  Vorst,  who  called  out: 

"I  say,  Fox,  is  that  you?  I  thought  I 
heard  your  voice.  You're  not  thinking  of 
going,  surely!  Can't  you  stay  and  have  a 
chop  with  us?" 

"I  was  not  going  without  seeing  you,  of 
course,"  said  Phileas.  "I  was  trying  to  find 
Cadwallader  to  send  you  a  message,  sir.  But 
I  just  ran  out,  you  see,  after  eight-o'clock 
Mass,  and  I  thought  of  catching  the  noon 
train  back  into  town." 

"Take  the  afternoon  train  instead,"  urged 
the  old  man  from  the  window.  "I  have 
wanted  to  see  you,  and  you  never  come  near 
us  except  you  are  furnished  with  wings.  Go 
and  talk  to  Isabel  till  I  come  down." 

Phileas  had,  therefore  to  turn  his  steps 
backward,  and  to  say  awkwardly: 

"I  hope  you  heard  Mr.  Vorst 's  commands 
from  the  upper  window?" 

"Oh,  yes,  I  heard!"  said  Isabel.  "And 
I  think  it  very  much  wiser  for  you  to  wait, 


320  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

so  that  you  will  have  time  for  a  long  talk." 

There  was  the  same  unsmiling  gravity  about 
the  mouth  as  she  thus  spoke,  but  Phileas 
caught  a  gleam  of  repressed  humor  in  the  eyes. 

"I  was  going  to  say,"  continued  the  young 
man,  "that  if  you  had  not  heard,  you  would 
be  forced  to  conclude  that  I  was  as  unstable 
as  water  in  my  resolves." 

"What  any  one  else  thinks  doesn't  matter 
very  much,  does  it?" 

Her  eyes  rested  a  moment  upon  his  face, 
and  then  wandered  out  over  the  vast  expanse 
of  water. 

"What  you  think  will  always  matter  to 
me.  That  you  must  know  and  believe,  what- 
ever else  happens." 

"You  seem  to  be  taking  the  matter  very 
seriously,"  said  Isabel,  looking  at  him  with 
the  same  calm  expression. 

"Some  matters  have  to  be  taken  seriously. 
There  is  no  other  way." 

Isabel  did  not  ask  him  why  the  subject 
of  staying  to  luncheon  should  be  taken  seri- 
ously, though  the  words  trembled  on  her 
lips.  She  leaned  back  in  her  chair  and 
laughed  lightly.  But  she  was  as  conscious 
as  he  of  the  slight  and  invisible  barrier  which 
had  arisen  between  them.  She  was  accus- 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  321 

tomed  to  hear  the  young  man's  praises  sung 
daily  by  her  newly-found  relative,  as  they 
had  been  sung  before,  though  in  more 
measured  terms,  by  her  late  patroness.  In 
the  latter  instance  she  had  heard  those 
eulogiums  without  annoyance,  even  with 
pleasure;  but  it  was  not  so  in  the  former 
case.  She  even  heard  Mr.  Vorst's  opinions 
with  a  distinct  resentment. 

While  Phileas  sat  beside  her  in  the  chair 
which  he  had  perforce  accepted  pending  the 
descent  of  Mr.  Vorst,  he  was  pondering 
whether  some  form  of  explanation  might  not 
be  due  to  Isabel,  after  what  had  already  passed 
between  them.  For,  as  he  reflected,  the 
question  between  them  was  higher  than  any 
mere  difference  of  wealth  or  any  other  conven- 
tion. He  loved  her,  and  had  told  her  so; 
while  she  had  met  his  confession  of  love  in 
such  a  manner  that  perhaps,  after  all,  it 
behooved  him  to  introduce  the  subject  once 
more  before  it  was  laid  aside  forever. 

"Since  chance  has  thrown  this  opportunity 
in  my  way,"  Phileas  said,  after  an  awkward 
pause,  "perhaps  I  had  better  speak  of  things 
upon  which  I  had  resolved  to  keep  silence — " 

"Silence  is  golden,"  interrupted  Isabel  softly, 
under  her  breath,  thinking  that  his  remark 


322  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

sounded  very  much  like  an  Irish  bull;  though 
she,  too,  was  agitated,  and  guessed  that  he 
was  about  to  refer  to  those  passages  of  love 
between  them. ' ' 

"Of  course  you  remember  certain  things 
which  I  said  to  you  in  those  days  preceding 
the  illness  and  death  of  Mrs.  Wilson?" 

"Yes,  I  remember  you  used  to  be  much 
more  communicative  than  you  are  at  present," 
said  Isabel,  deliberately  misunderstanding  him. 

"I  was  more  than  communicative,"  said 
Phileas,  gravely:  "I  was  perfectly  frank  in 
all  that  concerned  myself,  and  remarkably 
foolish  and  indiscreet  where  you  were  con- 
cerned. Indeed — " 

"Indeed!"  exclaimed  Isabel,  and  this  time 
there  was  no  doubt  about  the  humorous  ex- 
pression in  her  eyes.  "And  it  is  not  every- 
one who  so  promptly  discovers  the  error  of 
his  ways." 

"The  discovery  was  forced  upon  me  by 
circumstances,"  responded  Phileas,  his  face 
pale,  his  eyes  scintillating.  "I  saw  that  I 
had  been  foolish,  and  what  the  world  might 
consider  worse  than  foolish." 

"I  fail  to  see  what  the  world  has  to  do 
with  the  matter,"  commented  Isabel. 

"It  has  this  much  to  do:    it  can  take  awav 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  323 

a  man's  reputation  for  honor  and  integrity, 
and  lower  him  in  his  own  self-esteem." 

"Just   for   being   foolish?"   asked   Isabel. 

"Just  for  being  weak  enough  and  mad 
enough  to  feel  as  I  did,  above  all  to  speak 
as  I  did." 

The  color  rose  into  Isabel's  cheeks,  softly, 
captivatingly,  as  the  young  man  thought, 
and  spread  upward  till  it  reached  the  very 
hair  that  lay  in  soft  ripples  upon  her  temples. 

"I  am  not  going  to  remind  you,"  he  con- 
tinued, with  the  traces  of  deep  emotion  in 
his  voice,  "of  what  I  then  said.  God  knows 
every  word  of  it  was  genuine  and  came  from 
my  very  heart." 

Some  of  those  words  Isabel  chanced  to 
remember,  and  the  color  deepened,  while  her 
hand  that  still  toyed  with  the  book  trembled. 

"But  whatever  I  said  was  spoken  under 
a  misapprehension,  and  I  want  to  ask  your 
forgiveness  that  it  was  spoken  at  all.  I 
should  have  found  out  the  true  state  of 
affairs — " 

His  voice  broke,  and  he  turned  away, 
looking  out  over  the  waters  in  an  effort  to 
recover  his  composure. 

"I  want  to  ask  your  forgiveness,"  he 
repeated;  "and  also  to  make  you  feel  certain 


324  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

that  I  never  knew,  never  guessed  that  you 
were  any  other  than  Mrs.  Wilson's  companion." 

"It  would  have  been  hard  for  you  to  know 
when  I  didn't  know  myself,"  said  Isabel 
quickly. 

"That  does  not  necessarily  follow,"  Phileas 
declared  frankly.  "For  Mrs.  Wilson  had 
made  me  acquainted  with  so  much  of  her 
history  that  it  might  have  seemed  probable — 

"What?"  demanded  Isabel,  somewhat  ab- 
ruptly. "What  might  have  seemed  probable?" 
she  asked  again,  and  for  the  first  time  the 
lawyer's  gaze  faltered  before  her  resolute 
glance. 

"Why,  it  might  have  been  reasonably 
supposed  that  my  client  had  told  me  what, 
in  fact,  she  promised  to  tell  on  my  return 
from  Boston, — the  relation  in  which  you  stood 
to  her,  or  rather  to  Mr.  Vorst.  You  will 
believe,  however,  upon  my  definite  assurance, 
that  she  never  did  give  me  such  information 
until  that  last  moment  when  I  accompanied 
Mr.  Vorst  to  her  deathbed." 

"I  do  not  quite  see,"  said  Isabel,  who  had 
but  imperfectly  caught  the  young  man's 
meaning,  "what  particular  difference  all  this 
would  make." 

"But   don't   you   see — or   perhaps   in   your 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  325 

inexperience  you  do  not  see — what  the  world 
would  say,  what  it  would  think  of  an  attorney 
who  had  abused  his  position  as  confidential 
adviser  to  further  certain  interested  views 
of  his  own?" 

Phileas  spoke  thus  from  the  height  of  that 
experience  which  he  had  gained  during  his 
brief  sojourn  behind  the  newly- varnished  sign. 
But  a  few  weeks  before  he  had  been  well- 
nigh  as  inexperienced  as  the  girl  herself  in 
the  crooked  windings  of  a  wicked  world,  and 
in  the  carping  criticisms  that  pursue  men 
upon  every  step  of  their  career.  He  ventured 
again : 

"Even  you  yourself— 

"You  had  better  stop  there,"  said  Isabel, 
imperiously,  "and  do  not  charge  me  with 
thinking  so  meanly  of  one  whom  I  regarded 
as  a  friend.  I  could  never  believe  that  of 
you." 

"Thank  you!"  said  Phileas,  with  a  glance 
that,  despite  his  best  efforts,  was  more 
eloquent  than  any  words  could  have  been, 
and  which  touched  a  responsive  chord  in 
the  heart  of  the  girl  who  had  been  very  lonely 
and  desolate,  despite  the  kindness  of  her 
new-found  relative. 

"As    for    any    words    that    you    may   have 


326  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

spoken  on  the  impulse  of  the  moment, "  she 
added,  "they  had  better,  indeed,  be  forgotten; 
there  is  little  use  in  recalling  what  is  past. 
But  for  any  deliberate  calculation  on  your 
part  as  to  my  prospects,  I  entirely  acquit 
you  of  that." 

"It  is  a  great  weight  off  my  mind,"  he 
said,  disappointed,  nevertheless,  at  her  in- 
different tone.  "I  am  glad  I  had  the  courage 
to  speak,  so  that  I  know  you  understand, 
and  that  I  can  think  of  those  days  and  hours — 
the  happiest  of  my  life — without  a  sense  of 
bitter  mortification  and  humiliation.  I  shall 
never  forget  myself  again — you  need  not  be 
afraid, — and  I  shall  continue  to  stand  in  the 
same  relation  to  Mr.  Vorst  as  I  did  to  Mrs. 
Wilson,  but  without  intrusion  upon  you." 

"I  see  no  reason  why  we  should  not 
continue  to  be  friends,"  said  Isabel.  She 
held  her  head  very  straight,  and  she  looked 
at  the  lawyer  with  frank  eyes;  for  she  had 
a  pride  and  a  courage  of  her  own,  which 
would  not  permit  her  to  show  either  annoy- 
ance or  displeasure,  much  less  any  sign  of 
weakness. 

Phileas    interrupted   her   almost    sternly. 

"I  can  not  promise  you  that,"  he  cried, 
and  his  face  looked  pale  and  worn  in  the 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  327 

strong  sunlight.  "For  the  present,  at  least, 
friendship  would  be  a  very  meaningless  term 
on  my  part.  I  should  be  deceiving  you  were 
I  to  let  you  suppose  otherwise." 

"Well,  that  must  be  as  you  please,  of 
course,"  Isabel  said  quietly,  though  there 
was  a  touch  of  the  old  humor  in  the  expression 
of  her  face.  "I  suppose  I  shall  have  to 
cultivate  a  special  manner  for  Uncle  John's 
attorney." 

"Make  it  as  cold  and  distant  as  you  can, 
then,"  said  Phileas,  stung  by  her  jesting; 
"let  it  be  even  disdainful  and  abrupt, — any- 
thing you  will,  in  fact,  that  will  keep  the 
attorney  in  his  proper  place  and  help  him 
to  forget  a  foolish  and  impossible  dream." 

Mr.  Vorst  was  at  this  moment  heard 
descending  the  stairs,  and  Phileas  went  for- 
ward to  meet  him,  while  Isabel  sat  smiling 
at  what  had  passed.  She  did  not  by  any 
means  resent  Mr.  Fox's  rejection  of  her  offers 
of  friendship;  nor  did  she  at  all  desire  that 
her  whilom  lover  should  forget  that  dream 
which  had  been  dreamed  under  the  trees 
beside  the  old  mansion, — a  spot  that  she 
loved  dearly  with  a  warm  and  tender  affection, 
because  it  had  been  the  scene  of  that  first 
love-making. 


XXIV. 

EVEN  while  Phileas  Fox,  with  a  resolute 
and  manly  pride,  disclaimed  that  past 
which  the  girl  so  vividly  remembered, 
she  could  hear  in  every  vibration  of  his  voice 
the  sentiment  that  was  stronger  than  his 
resolution,  greater  than  his  pride;  and  she 
had  never  been  half  so  certain  that  he  really 
loved  her  as  now,  when  he  almost  indignantly 
repudiated  the  idea.  He  had  not  forgotten, 
let  him  say  and  do  what  he  would;  and  the 
thought  caused  the  blue  air  of  the  summer 
day  to  palpitate  with  a  new  feeling,  and  the 
beautiful  scene  thereabout  to  shine  with  an 
added  lustre.  Isabel  had  a  secret  conviction 
that  the  young  man's  pride  and  his  sensitive 
honor  would  yield  in  the  end  to  that  deeper 
feeling  which,  even  in  the  finest  natures,  so 
frequently  carries  all  save  conscience  before  it. 
She  laughed  as  she  had  not  done  for  many 
a  day  when  she  saw  Cadwallader  coming  out 
of  the  garden,  and  nearly  drop  his  basket 
of  lettuce  in  his  joy  at  sight  of  Phileas,  who 
reminded  him,  as  he  said,  of  "ole  Missis." 
Nor  was  her  amusement  lessened  when  the 
German  came  hurrying  up  to  complain  that 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  329 

the  "black  man"  had  let  the  pigs  into  the 
garden. 

During  the  delightful  luncheon  that  followed, 
the  old  servitor  waited  with  special  assiduity 
upon  "Massa  Fox,"  and  even  provoked  a 
smile  from  the  others. 

"It  is  really  touching,"  said  John  Vorst, 
when  Cadwallader  had  retired  to  the  pantry, 
"what  a  faithful,  affectionate  heart  exists 
under  that  dusky  exterior!" 

"I  fear  he  and  the  German  will  come  to 
blows  some  day,"  laughed  Isabel.  "I  have 
been  called  upon  to  mediate  between  them 
a  good  many  times  already.  And  it  is  all 
sheer  jealousy  for  the  favor  of  Uncle  John — 

"And  the  'sweet  young  lady,'"  said  John 
Vorst,  with  that  smile  of  his  which,  since  the 
late  events,  Phileas  found  to  be  sadder  than 
any  tears. 

During  the  meal  Phileas  found  Isabel,  in 
some  unaccountable  way,  more  attractive  than 
ever.  The  shadow  which  sorrow  had  given 
to  the  conspicuous  brightness  of  her  face 
added  to  its  charm,  and  the  lawyer  felt 
that  the  chains  which  bound  him  were  being 
more  securely  riveted  than  ever.  He  almost 
regretted  having  revived  a  past  that  should 
be  irrevocably  dead,  and  stirred  chords  that 


330  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

should  be  silent.  He  mentally  vowed  that 
he  would  never  again  trust  himself  within 
this  girl's  reach.  For  he  realized  that  she 
possessed  a  far  more  subtle  and  dangerous 
power  of  attraction  than  even  he  had  hitherto 
supposed;  and  her  very  presence,  though 
they  conversed  but  little  during  the  progress 
of  the  meal,  constituted  a  grave  danger  of 
causing  him  to  forget  his  excellent  resolutions. 

Almost  immediately  after  luncheon  Isabel 
left  them,  saying: 

"I  think  I  shall  take  a  stroll  by  the  water, 
Uncle,  and  leave  you  with  your  attorney." 

There  was  a  mischievous  gleam  in  her  eyes 
as  they  encountered  those  of  Phileas,  and 
she  held  out  her  hand. 

"In  case  I  should  not  see  you  again,"  she 
said  calmly,  "I  shall  say  good-bye." 

Phileas  took  her  hand,  but  almost  immedi- 
ately relinquished  it.  Then  he  silently  watched 
her  walking  downward  through  the  long  grass, 
with  that  same  erect  and  graceful  carriage 
he  had  always  admired.  Beside  him  sat  John 
Vorst,  leaning  back  in  the  chair,  and  gazing 
out  over  the  landscape  and  at  Isabel's  re- 
treating figure.  Presently  the  old  man  fell 
into  a  reminiscent  vein  of  talk,  touching  upon 
vanished  scenes,  and,  for  the  first  time  since 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  331 

her  death,  mentioning  the  name  of  Martha 
Spooner.  She  seemed  to  exist  for  him  now 
as  she  had  done  in  those  old  days.  All  else 
was  apparently  forgotten.  In  death,  the  strong, 
indissoluble  bond  that  had  once  united  her 
to  him  was  whole  and  inviolate  once  more. 

Suddenly    Mr.    Vorst    remarked    to    Phileas: 

"You  have  been  so  good,  so  helpful  to  me 
in  all  those  troubles!  No  money  can  ever 
repay  you  for  your  delicate  consideration, 
your  thousand  and  one  kindnesses,  as  well  as 
your  able  settlement  of  these  intricate  affairs." 

"I  was  very  glad  to  be  of  use  to  you," 
said  Phileas,  with  a  sincerity  and  warmth 
that  went  to  his  listener's  heart. 

"If  I  had  a  son  of  my  own,"  continued 
John  Vorst,  "he  could  not  have  been  kinder 
to  me  than  you  have  been.  You  have  far, 
far  exceeded  all  that  your  professional  duties 
required." 

lAhere  was  a  considerable  pause  again,  when 
John  Vorst  said: 

"Will  you  forgive  an  old  man's  freedom? 
But  I  had  sometimes  fancied,  with  regard 
to  Isabel,  that  there  had  been  something 
more  than  friendliness." 

He  stopped;  and  Phileas,  painfully  em- 
barrassed, knew  not  what  to  say. 


332  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

"You  see,"  the  old  man  went  on,  "I 
already  love  this  dear  niece  of  mine  as  a 
daughter.  I  have  no  desire  to  intrude  upon 
your  private  feelings;  but  the  circumstances 
of  this  case  are  peculiar,  and  I  had  thought 
with  gratification,  that  there  might  be  some- 
thing between  you." 

"Mr.  Vorst,"  said  Phileas,  flushing  to  the 
very  roots  of  his  despised  red  hair,  ' '  I  will 
not  conceal  from  you  that  there  was,  and  is, 
a  great  deal  more  than  friendliness  on  my 
part.  I  was  thrown  by  circumstances  very 
constantly  into  Miss  Ventnor's  society,  and 
I  lost  my  head  and  judgment.  From  the 
first  she  attracted  me;  before  many  weeks 
had  passed  I  was  deeply  and  truly  in  love 
with  her." 

The  old  man  nodded  and  smiled.  "I  am 
not  surprised,"  he  said.  "She  is  an  unusually 
charming  girl." 

"There  was  one  excuse  for  me,"  said  the 
attorney,  following  out  his  own  train  of 
thought. 

"What  excuse  should  you  need?"  asked 
Mr.  Vorst.  "I  think  the  better  of  you  that 
you  are  not  one  of  the  cold,  cynical  type  of 
young  men  that  seem  to  abound  in  these 
days." 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  333 

"I  fell  in  love,  as  I  said,"  Phileas  went  on 
sternly,  as  though  he  were  judging  another; 
"and  I  had  the  presumption  to  tell  Miss 
Ventnor  of  the  fact.  I  have  just  been  begging 
her  pardon  for  that  folly." 

"It  is  a  folly  that  most  women  will  forgive," 
replied  the  old  man,  smiling.  "But  was  there 
so  very  much  to  pardon?" 

"Under  ordinary  circumstances,  not  so  very 
much,  I  grant  you;  and  I  made  that  declara- 
tion in  all  good  faith,  believing  her  to  be — a 
companion.  When  I  discovered  the  truth  I 
was  bitterly  ashamed  of  my  conduct." 

"When  you  acted  in  good  faith,  why  should 
you  be  ashamed?"  said  John  Vorst.  "You 
see,  it  pleased  Martha  to  keep  up  a  certain 
mystery  concerning  Isabel.  When  her  mother 
died  abroad,  I  was  notified  of  that  circum- 
stance; but,  in  answer  to  my  inquiries  concern- 
ing the  surviving  child,  I  was  merely  informed 
that  she  had  been  adopted  by  a  wealthy 
lady — a  devoted  friend  of  her  late  mother,— 
had  returned  with  her  to  New  York;  for  it 
chanced  that  Martha  was  on  the  Continent 
at  the  very  time  that  Isabel  lost  her  mother. 
My  subsequent  inquiries  failed  to  elicit  any 
further  information,  since  Martha  had  pur- 
posely arranged  to  keep  her  secret.  It  was 


334  PHI  LEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

not  until  my  visit,  with  you,  to  my  former 
home  in  Monroe  Street  that  I  discovered  the 
truth." 

"It  was  exactly  the  same  with  me,"  Phileas 
declared;  "but  my  position  as  attorney,  as 
confidential  adviser  to  the  deceased,  would 
inevitably  leave  me  open  to  the  gravest 
suspicions.  It  might  be  readily  inferred  that 
I  had  known  of  Miss  Ventnor's  prospects 
and  her  true  position  even  before  she  was 
aware  of  them  herself." 

For  a  moment  John  Vorst  looked  thoughtful. 

"Yes,  I  see,"  be  assented;  "that  might 
be  the  world's  verdict."  Then  he  leaned  for- 
ward and  laid  a  kindly  hand  on  Phileas' 
shoulder.  "But  we  are  living  in  Elysium 
here,"  he  said.  "We  have  got  rid  of  the 
world,  its  pomps  and  vanities,  and  its  mis- 
conceptions. I  trust  you  fully  and  unreserved- 
ly. I  know  that  if  you  love  Isabel,  it  is  solely 
for  herself.  To  my  mind,  there  is  only  one 
point  to  be  considered.  Does  my  niece  return 
your  affection?  Has  she  given  you  any 
encouragement?" 

"The  whole  matter  was  left  in  abeyance, 
owing  to  the  late  event.  And  when  I  spoke 
to-day,  it  was  to  apologize  for  my  mistake 
and  to  withdraw  my  petition." 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  335 

"If  it  be  true  that  she  responds  to  your 
sentiments,"  said  John  Vorst,  slowly,  "I  should 
regard  it  as  the  most  honest  and  straight- 
forward course  for  you  to  proceed  as  though 
circumstances  were  such  as  you  had  believed. 
For,  after  all,  what  do  you  or  I  care  for  the 
opinion  of  a  world  that  we  know  to  be,  in 
great  measure,  base  and  heartless?  A  true 
affection,  a  real  union  of  hearts,  is  one  of  those 
gifts  which  life  but  rarely  bestows,  and  ought 
to  be  sought  eagerly,  and  securely  grasped  when 
found.  My  span  of  life  can  not  be  very  long. 
I  want  to  see  Isabel  married  to  a  good  man, 
and  above  all  a  practical  Catholic,  who  will 
make  her  happy,  and  in  whose  hands  I  can 
confidently  leave  her  future.  I  shall  have  to  go 
back  after  a  time  to  the  old  house  and  live 
there,  according  to  Martha's  dying  request, 
and  I  shall  sorely  need  company.  You  have 
been  so  much  identified  with  its  latest  develop- 
ments that,  somehow,  you  will  seem  to  have 
a  place  there.  And  meantime,"  the  old  man 
said,  smiling  into  the  young  man's  embarrassed 
but  radiant  face,  "what  so  delightful  a  place 
to  spend  a  honeymoon  as  here  in  Westchester? 
It  would  seeni  to  bring  back  the  past,  in  so 
far  as  I  am  concerned,  and  make  me  feel 
happier  than  anything  else  could  now  do  to 


336  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

know  that  two  whom  I  love  as  my  own 
children  were  happy  in  this  house  as  once 
I  was." 

Looking  keenly  at  his  friend  to  see  the 
effect,  the  old  man  went  on: 

"You  might  be  married  at  once,  always 
providing  that  Isabel  sees  matters  as  we  do, 
and  that  on  your  part  nothing  more  than  a 
scruple  stands  in  the  way.  Father  Van  Buren, 
who  is  your  enthusiastic  friend,  and  has  told 
me  all  about  you  and  your  family,  could 
perform  the  ceremony.  You  two  could  spend 
the  autumn  here,  and  rejoin  me  at  the  old 
place  before  the  holidays.  And  you  see,  my 
dear  boy,  that  would  be  the  final  settlement, 
in  love  and  happiness,  of  the  famous  case 
of  Spooner  vs.  Vorst." 

Phileas  had  meanwhile  turned  red  and  pale, 
and  pale  and  red  again;  the  light  of  a  great 
happiness  shining  out  of  his  eyes,  and  surging 
up  in  his  heart  so  as  to  sweep  away  all  those 
obstacles  which  pride  and  conventionality  still 
opposed. 

"Will  you  promise,  my  friend,"  said  John 
Vorst,  affectionately,  "to  realize  this  waking 
dream  of  mine, — to  become  the  strong  staff 
of  my  old  age,  and  the  guardian  of  my  new- 
found treasure  ? ' ' 


PHILEAS  FOX*Attorney  337 

"God  knows,"  cried  Phileas,  "in  a  voice 
hoarse  with  emotion,  "it  would  be  too  great 
a  happiness,  if  Miss  Ventnor  is  willing  to 
throw  herself  away  upon  a  struggling  attorney, 
and  if  you  think  it  right!" 

"Right!— right!  Why  of  course  it's  right!" 
said  the  old  man.  "The  finger  of  Providence 
is  in  the  whole  business.  But  there  is  Isabel 
down  yonder,  walking  beside  the  water.  Run 
and  overtake  her,  and  find  out  if  she  is  really 
fond  of  you  and  will  consent  to  be  your  wife." 

"But,"  Phileas  stammered,  "I  have  just 
told  her  that  I  should  never  again  intrude 
upon  her  with  such  confession." 

" 'At  lovers'  perjuries  they  say  Jove  laughs,'" 
quoted  John  Vorst,  now  all  eagerness  and 
animation  for  the  success  of  his  scheme.  "If 
she  cares  for  you,  my  dear  boy,  she  will 
overlook  the  inconsistency;  and  if  she  does 
not,  things  will  be  no  worse  than  before." 

And  so  Phileas  went,  all  on  fire  with  this 
new  resolve,  his  blue  eyes  flashing  like  steel, 
as  when  he  had  a  difficult  case  in  the  law  to 
overcome.  John  Vorst,  watching  him,  smiled 
to  see  him  leaping  fences,  and,  as  it  were, 
clearing  away  obstacles  between  him  and  the 
object  of  his  attachment. 

"That  is  a  young  man  after  my  own  heart," 


338  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

he  reflected;  "a  fine,  generous,  impulsive 
nature,  with  energy  and  determination  and 
remarkable  brain  power,  as  all  the  old  stagers 
of  the  law  assured  me.  Isabel  is  a  lucky 
girl,  if  she  has  sense  enough,  as  I  believe, 
to  appreciate  him." 

Phileas  soon  stood  beside  the  girl,  all 
glowing  with  the  exercise  he  had  taken,  and 
the  new  hope  and  ardor  which  had  inspired 
him. 

Isabel  looked  at  him  with  quiet  eyes,  in 
which  there  was  some  astonishment. 

"You  will  think  me  a  fool,"  he  began; 
"but  the  only  real  question  between  us  is, 
do  you  love  me  enough  to  throw  yourself 
away  upon  a  struggling  attorney?" 

"You  are  nothing  if  not  sudden,"  said 
Isabel,  laughing  her  old  merry  laugh,  partly 
to  hide  her  confusion. 

"Mr.  Vorst  has  argued  out  the  whole  matter 
for  us,"  cried  Phileas;  "and  made  me  feel 
like  a  poltroon  to  heed  what  the  world  says, 
and  to  be  afraid  to  tell  you  that  I  love  you  a 
thousand  times  more  than  I  did  before,  even 
if  you  are  an  heiress." 

Time  slipped  away  swiftly  between  the  two 
after  that,  for  there  was  so  much  to  explain 
and  to  recall  and  to  question;  Isabel  laughed 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  339 

to  scorn  the  idea  that  she  could  ever  have 
suspected  Phileas  of  plotting  to  secure  her 
wealth. 

"And  that  may  sound  very  conceited," 
she  said;  "but  it  is  not  of  my  charms  I 
am  thinking,  but  of  what  I  know  of  your 
character." 

During  the  interval  John  Vorst,  out  of 
whose  face  had  died  the  fire  and  animation, 
dozed  peacefully  in  his  chair,  while  the  old 
ardent  words  once  spoken  in  that  place  were 
being  repeated  under  the  same  blue  sky  and 
amongst  the  waving  grasses,  the  Sound  flowing 
swiftly  upon  its  way  as  it  had  done  during 
the  successive  generations;  and  the  lover 
of  old  times  started  from  his  sleep,  to  greet 
the  lovers  of  the  present  with  a — 

"Bless  me,  how  the  afternoon  has  passed! 
Eh,  what?  Oh,  yes,  I  remember!  Come  here, 
my  dear  Isabel,  and  give  me  a  kiss.  I  can 
see  by  your  face  that  you  have  made  up 
your  mind  to  make  us  all  very  happy  by 
marrying — 

"Phileas  Fox,  Attorney!"  interrupted  Isabel, 
with  a  laugh. 

It  was  the  cheery  Christmas-time  in  New 
York.  The  shops  were  fairly  radiant,  dis- 


340  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

playing  their  masses  of  rich  and  costly  gifts. 
Christmas  was  in  the  air.  It  rejuvenated 
the  great  city,  growing  old  in  its  mercantile 
wisdom;  and  over  its  rush  and  its  roar,  over 
its  merchant  princes  with  their  palaces,  and 
the  crowded  masses  of  the  poor,  arose  the 
soft  radiance  of  the  Star  of  Bethlehem.  Its 
influence  for  the  time  was  paramount.  With 
its  subtle,  compelling  force;  it  arrested  the 
Titanic  world  of  business,  the  financier  and 
the  trader,  infidel  and  Jew;  and  for  the  time 
it  said  to  them:  "Deny  as  you  may,  scoff 
as  you  may,  but  this  day  is  born  to  you  a 
Saviour,  who  is  Christ  the  Lord.  In  your 
own  despite,  He  makes  you  pause  in  your 
headlong  career  of  materialism,  and  infects 
you  with  the  cheerfulness  and  warmth,  the 
hope  and  joy,  that  He  brought  into  a  saddened 
world.  He  will  triumph,  if  it  be  but  for  a 
day,  over  your  new  paganism,  and  will  give 
you  glimpses  of  the  light  that  broke  over 
the  Shepherds  on  the  Oriental  hillside,  and 
that  has  shone  through  the  darkness  of  the 
centuries,  and  shall  shine  unto  the  end." 

On  the  morning  of  Christmas  Eve  Phileas 
Fox,  hastening  to  the  office,  found  the  elevator 
crowded  with  office-holders  in  that  huge  human 
hive  of  a  many-storied  building.  Each  one, 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  341 

with  a  particularly  hearty  and  jovial  expres- 
sion of  countenance,  cried  out:  "A  merry 
Christmas  to  you!"  Even  those  who  had 
never  spoken  before,  disregarded  conventional 
forms  and  gave  the  greeting. 

Arrived  at  his  sanctum,  where  the  sign 
was  no  longer  conspicuously  new,  and  all 
within  began  to  show  those  symptoms  of 
wear  that  denote  prosperity,  Phileas  found 
that  the  whole  place  had  been  decorated 
with  a  most  wonderful  display  of  evergreens 
by  his  young  factotum.  The  latter's  counte- 
nance was  radiant,  and  became  more  so  on 
the  receipt  of  a  substantial  sum  of  money 
as  a  gift,  and  on  being  dismissed  with  the 
news  that  a  hamper  from  Washington  market 
for  his  widowed  mother,  with  sundry  other 
remembrances,  was  on  its  way  to  his  dwelling 
from  the  presiding  genius  of  the  mansion  in 
Monroe  Street. 

Left  alone,  Phileas  looked  around  him  at 
the  familiar  four  walls,  the  desk,  the  office 
chairs,  and  the  folios.  He  paused  an  instant 
before  that  one  containing  the  case  of  Spooner 
vs.  Vorst,  which  plunged  him  into  a  retrospec- 
tion. A  deep  thankfulness,  a  wonder  at  his 
good  fortune — or,  rather,  at  the  providential 
direction  that  had  been  given  to  his  affairs,— 


342  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

seized  upon  him.  In  that  bulky  volume  had 
been  the  first  link  of  a  chain  that  had  turned 
to  gold  in  his  hands.  Presently  the  chimes 
of  old  Trinity  began  to  play  a  gladsome  carol, 
and  to  sound  and  resound  in  his  ears  like 
actual  words. 

After  having  at  last  settled  his  mind  to  read 
and  to  answer  half  a  dozen  letters,  Phileas 
stood  before  the  little  mirror  behind  the 
curtain,  brushing  his  red  hair,  which  had 
once  been  so  sore  a  grievance,  especially  when 
the  thought  of  Isabel  had  begun  to  give  a 
particular  direction  to  the  dreams  of  youth. 
He  could  have  cried  out  in  amazement  at  all 
that  had  happened.  "Can  this  indeed  be  I, 
a  poor  and  obscure  attorney,  who  has  in  so 
brief  a  space  won  so  enviable  a  position  and 
the  love  of  so  charming  a  girl?"  For,  visionary 
as  it  would  have  appeared  a  short  time  before 
that  he  should  be  installed  in  the  mansion 
in  Monroe  Street,  which  was  now  his  real 
home,  it  seemed  to  him  more  wonderful  still 
that  he  should  have  won  the  desire  of  his 
heart.  And,  with  the  enthusiasm  of  a  genuine 
first  love,  he  counted  all  the  rest  as  little  in 
comparison  with  the  fact  that  Isabel  was 
really  his,  and  that,  till  death  came  to  sever 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  343 

their  union,  they  should  pursue  the  path  of 
life  together. 

At  the  familiar  iron  gates,  though  he  had 
been  passing  them  every  day  for  the  last 
three  months,  he  stopped  with  a  whole  new 
set  of  emotions,  his  eyes  lighting  at  thought 
of  her  who  had  been  for  these  twelve  full 
weeks  the  one  ray  of  love  and  hope  in  his 
struggling  life;  and  dimming  again  as  the 
remembrance  forced  itself  upon  his  mind  of 
the  pathetic  figure  in  the  library  chair,  at 
whose  call  he  had  first  come  to  this  dwelling. 
The  trees  waved  in  the  wind,  bereft  now  of 
their  luxuriant  foliage;  and  the  lawn,  sered 
and  brown,  still  bore  here  and  there  vestiges 
of  the  autumn  leaves.  But  the  chill  desola- 
tion of  nature  had  no  power  to  depress  the 
soul  of  Phileas  Fox.  He  saw  rather  the 
sunshine,  the  brightness  of  the  sky,  and  the 
cheerful  glow  that  came  forth  from  a  grate 
fire  burning  in  the  house. 

Scarcely  had  he  rung  when  Cadwallader 
threw  open  the  door  with  alacrity,  though 
the  frosts  of  age  had  seemed  of  late  to  settle 
upon  his  limbs.  He  greeted  his  "young 
Massa,"  as  he  now  called  Phileas,  with  a 
kind  of  subdued  cheerfulness.  As  he  took 


344  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

possession  of  the  young  man's  greatcoat  and 
hat,  he  remarked: 

"It  looks  as  if  we  were  goin'  to  have  heavy 
snow  for  Christmas.  At  least  that's  my  own 
opinion,  sah.  And,  sure  enough,  thar's  a 
bitin'  frost  in  the  air.  Mebbe  you  don't  feel 
it;  but  when  we've  done  grown  old,  that's 
the  time  the  cold  strikes  us.  Ole  Missis,  she 
used  to  say:  ' Cadwallader,  you  and  I  is 
growin'  old,  and  we  feel  kind  of  chilly  in  our 
bones.'" 

As  the  old  man  thus  talked,  the  parrot, 
roused  by  the  voices,  raised  its  own,  more 
cracked  and  querulous  than  ever,  with  its 
everlasting  cry  of  "John  Vorst!"  followed 
by  some  unintelligible  muttering,  as  though 
it  were  striving  to  acquire  new  names,  with 
a  faculty  of  imitation  that  time  had  dulled. 

At  the  library  door  appeared  Isabel,  smiling 
and  joyous,  though  her  cheerfulness  was 
tempered  by  that  which  had  befallen  the 
household.  Her  black  dress  showed  off  her 
figure  to  advantage,  as  well  as  the  fresh  color 
of  her  complexion  and  the  tints  of  her  hair. 
She  had  been  very  busy  for  some  time  pre- 
vious. There  had  been  all  sorts  of  prepara- 
tions to  be  made  for  the  festival.  Christmas 
cheer  and  Christmas  presents  of  various  kinds 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  345 

had  gone  forth  from  the  mansion  in  Monroe 
Street  to  many  indigent  homes.  A  packing 
case  had  been  dispatched  to  Mrs.  O'Rourke, 
now  permanently  established  in  Westchester; 
and  the  contents  of  that  case  were  calculated 
to  bring  joy  to  the  hearts  of  her  children  and 
many  a  smile  to  her  own  countenance,  which 
had  lost  its  careworn  and  haggard  expression, 
and  put  on  almost  a  semblance  of  youth. 
Nor  was  the  German  forgotten.  His  fireside 
likewise  felt  the  radiance  emanating  from  the 
newly  constructed  household  in  Monroe  Street. 

"I'm  glad  you  are  home  early,  Phileas," 
said  Isabel;  "for  we  haven't  half  finished  the 
decorations.  And,"  she  added  in  a  lower 
tone,  "I  want  to  make  everything  particularly 
cheerful  because  of  all  the  sadness;  for  I 
am  sure  she  would  have  wished  that  uncle's 
first  Christmas  after  the  home-coming  should 
be  as  happy  as  possible." 

Somehow,  as  Phileas  crossed  the  library 
threshold  that  day,  there  recurred  to  his  mind 
with  compelling  force  the  look  of  that  room 
as  he  had  seen  it  first.  In  that  chair  which 
had  been  so  often  occupied  by  the  late  mistress 
of  the  mansion  sat  John  Vorst.  On  the 
table  stood  the  silver  gong  which  was  now 
seldom  used,  and  which  caused  the  young 


346  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

observer  to  reflect  how  the  smallest  inanimate 
object  will  so  often  survive  the  strongest  and 
most  forceful  human  personality.  In  the  safe 
in  the  corner,  toward  which  involuntarily  his 
eyes  wandered,  he  seemed  to  see  again  the 
rows  of  jewel-cases  as  they  had  been  revealed 
to  him  at  an  imperious  command,  and  the 
glittering  contents  of  which  had  been  displayed 
in  a  weird  and  ghastly  fashion  during  Mrs. 
Wilson's  delirium.  Phileas  was  aware  that 
the  greater  portion  of  them  were  to  be 
bestowed  upon  Isabel  next  day  as  a  Christmas 
gift  from  John  Vorst;  but  to  him  they  should 
always  preserve,  he  felt,  that  character  of 
mystery  with  which  they  had  been  primarily 
invested. 

John  Vorst  had  aged  considerably,  the 
young  man  thought,  as  he  noted  him  there 
in  the  glow  of  a  fire  which  Isabel  had  caused 
to  be  enkindled  upon  the  hearth.  It  was 
evident  that  the  grief  which  had  befallen  him 
in  the  recent  death  had  far  outweighed  the 
sorrow,  the  bitterness,  the  privations  of  years; 
for  the  more  noble,  the  more  generous  the 
nature,  the  speedier  the  forgiveness  and  the 
more  unimpaired  the  original  attachment.  The 
old  man's  eyes  lighted  at  the  sight  of  Phileas, 
for  whom  he  had  a  warm  and  ever-growing 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  347 

regard.  He  began  at  once  to  talk  of  matters 
of  common  interest  to  both,  while  Isabel 
hovered  about,  busy  in  making  wreaths. 

As  John  Vorst  talked,  his  gaze  wandered 
often  to  the  portrait  of  Martha  Spooner 
Vorst, — for  so  in  his  own  mind  she  was  always 
designated.  This  portrait,  now  brought  to 
the  light  of  day,  was  the  very  same  which 
had  been  shown  to  Phileas  by  the  original 
herself.  It  represented  her  as  she  had  been 
when  the  bride  of  the  handsome  young  man 
whose  portrait  now  hung  beside  hers,  and 
when  she  had  been  flitting  about  the  old 
house  and  dominating  it  with  her  energetic 
character.  It  seemed  as  if  she  were  once  more 
amongst  them,  erring  and  fiercely  proud  no 
longer,  but  clothed  as  with  a  garment  in  her 
best  attributes.  Oh,  how  sweet  to  think  that 
blessed  Christmas  Eve  that  all  was  forgotten 
and  forgiven,  and  that,  in  the  mercy  of  God, 
full  compensation  had  been  made  ere  that 
weary  soul  appeared  before  the  tribunal  of 
Divine  Justice! 

Isabel  held  up  a  completed  wreath  of  freshest 
evergreens,  entwined  with  holly,  whose  berries, 
vividly  scarlet,  gleamed  in  contrast.  ''This  is 
for  the  portraits,  Phileas,"  she  said. 

And,    standing   upon   a   chair,    he   at   once 


348  PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney 

placed  it;  while  John  Vorst  bent  his  head, 
the  unwonted  tears  falling  from  his  eyes; 
and  Isabel  softly  quoted  from  the  most  genial 
of  novelists.  "Lord,  keep  my  memory  green!" 
The  pictured  face,  gay  and  youthful,  smiled 
upon  the  three  as  if  to  assure  them  of  her 
presence,  and  of  her  sanction  of  all  that  had 
been  done. 

"If  the  dead  can  know,"  thought  Phileas, 
"how  glad  she  would  be  to  see  John  Vorst 
seated  there!" 

Isabel  now  strove  to  divert  the  old  man 
from  what  was  painful  and  to  remind  him 
of  the  pleasant  to-morrow,  when  Father  Van 
Buren  had  promised  to  dine  with  them, — or, 
at  least,  to  look  in  upon  the  festivity.  But 
the  old  man's  thoughts  were  still  with  the 
past,  and  presently  he  uttered  aloud  the 
sentiment  which  was  very  much  in  accord 
with  the  thought  of  the  lawyer: 

"Poor  Martha,  if  only  she  could  be  with 
us!  How  pleased  she  would  be  to  see  the 
happy  outcome  of  the  long-contested  case  of 
Spooner  vs.  Vorst!  And,"  he  added,  taking 
a  hand  of  each  of  the  young  people,  whom 
he  now  regarded  as  his  children,  "nothing 
could  please  her  better  than  to  see  installed 
amongst  us  one  whom  she  had  learned  to 


PHILEAS  FOX,  Attorney  349 

value  so  highly,  and  who  was  a  chief  factor 
in  this  fortunate  settlement." 

"I  remember  so  well,"  laughed  Isabel, 
trying,  through  tears,  to  give  a  lighter  tone 
to  the  solemnity  of  the  moment,  "the  first 
time  he  came  to  this  house,  and  I  thought 
'  Phileas  Fox'  so  ominous  a  name  for  a  lawyer." 


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